Look at a homoeopathic medicine bottle and you will usually see two things. A name, and next to it a number, sometimes with a letter. That number is what homoeopaths call the potency.

People often wonder what it means. Is a bigger number stronger? Is it a dose? This piece explains the idea in plain words, based on what homoeopathy students are taught in their first year. It will not tell you which potency to take. That is a decision for a qualified practitioner, and you will see why below.

Potency is about how a medicine is prepared

In homoeopathy, medicines go through a special preparation process. It has a few names. You may hear “potentisation”, “potentization”, “dynamisation” or “dynamization”. They all point to the same family of ideas.

The official first-year syllabus for BHMS, set by the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH), has a whole chapter on it, called “Drugs Dynamisation”. Its topics include:

• how the idea of dynamisation developed over time,
• potentisation and its types,
• the merits of potentisation, meaning its claimed advantages in homoeopathic theory,
• two methods called succussion and trituration, and
• techniques that came after Hahnemann, the founder of homoeopathy.

Succussion means firm, repeated shaking. Trituration means grinding, usually with a powder. These are the physical steps. Potency is the label for where a medicine stands in that process.

There is more than one scale

This is the part most people do not know. There is not just one way of making a potency. There are different scales.

The syllabus has a chapter called “Various Scales of Potentization”. It names three:

• the Centesimal scale,
• the Decimal scale, and
• the 50 Millesimal scale.

The names give a hint. “Centesimal” comes from the word for a hundred. “Decimal” comes from the word for ten. “Millesimal” comes from the word for a thousand. Each scale is a different system of steps.

For each scale, the syllabus asks students to learn its history, who introduced it, its designation, how it is prepared, and how it is given and used. “Designation” means the way it is written down. That is what you are looking at on the label: the designation of a potency on one of these scales.

Many kinds of potency

The same chapter lists more terms: fluxion potency, jumping potency, back potency, single vial, multiple vial and mixed vial potency. You do not need to learn these. The point is simply this: potency is a detailed technical subject. Students spend real time on it.

So, is a higher number “stronger”?

This is the question everyone asks. The honest answer is that this page cannot tell you. It depends on the scale and on homoeopathic theory, and those are taught in full in a professional course.

What we can tell you is how the syllabus treats the choice. In the Pharmacy subject, there is a chapter on posology. Posology means the study of dosage. One of its topics is “Criteria for Selection of Potency & Repetition of Dose”. In other words, choosing a potency, and deciding how often to give it, is a skill that trained students are taught with care. It has its own rules.

That is the main takeaway of this piece. A potency is not something to pick by guesswork, by the size of the number, or by what worked for a neighbour. If you have been given a homoeopathic medicine and you have questions about its potency, ask the qualified, registered practitioner who prescribed it. Do not change a potency on your own.

The short version

• Potency is the label for how a homoeopathic medicine was prepared.
• It belongs to a scale: centesimal, decimal or 50 millesimal.
• The letters and numbers on the label are that scale’s written form.
• Choosing a potency is taught as a professional skill. Leave it to a professional.

Read more on this platform

“How Homoeopathic Remedies Are Made” on our blog walks through the full preparation process in plain terms. The Homoeopathic Pharmacy topic in Homoeopathy Knowledge covers the subject for any curious reader. If you are unsure about a medicine you have, “Questions Worth Asking Your Homoeopath” gives you a simple list to take to your next visit.