Homeopathy is a system of medicine developed in Germany over 200 years ago and widely used in India. This guide explains how it works in its own terms, what the medicines contain, and how it fits with modern science.
Reviewed September 2026 · For information, not diagnosis
Homeopathy was developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, who published his founding ideas in 1796. At the time, standard medicine relied on bloodletting, purging and toxic doses of mercury, and Hahnemann was looking for something gentler. Homeopathy spread through Europe and the Americas in the 19th century and reached India, particularly Bengal, in the same period, where it took deep root.
The name comes from the Greek homoios (similar) and pathos (suffering). Today it is most widely used in India, parts of Europe and Latin America.
Classical homeopathy also speaks of a vital force that is disturbed in illness, and of miasms, inherited tendencies to disease. These ideas come from 18th- and 19th-century medical thinking and do not correspond to concepts in modern biology.
The number and letter on a homeopathic bottle tell you how many times the starting material was diluted, and by how much each time:
To picture 12C: it is roughly one drop of the original substance in a volume of water about a sixth the size of the Atlantic Ocean. Homeopaths accept that high potencies contain none of the original molecules and hold that the water or alcohol retains an imprint of the substance. This is the main point on which homeopathy and conventional science disagree.
Low potencies are different. Mother tinctures and low X potencies can contain real, measurable amounts of the starting material — which matters when that material is arsenic, mercury, belladonna or strychnine-containing nux vomica. See Using homeopathy safely.
| Form | What it is |
|---|---|
| Globules and pills | Small sugar (sucrose or lactose) pills moistened with a liquid potency — the familiar “sweet pills”. |
| Liquid dilutions | Potencies in alcohol, taken as drops, often in water. |
| Mother tinctures | Undiluted herbal extracts, usually in a high proportion of alcohol. Pharmacologically these are herbal medicines. |
| Biochemic (tissue) salts | Twelve mineral salts, usually at 6X, sold singly or in combinations (“Bio-Combinations”). |
| Combination (“patent”) products | Several remedies mixed for a named complaint, such as colds or teething. These depart from classical individualised prescribing. |
| Creams, ointments, oils | For example Calendula or Arnica creams, which usually contain the actual plant extract. |
A first classical consultation often lasts 45–90 minutes. The homeopath asks about your main complaint in detail and also about your sleep, appetite, cravings, reaction to heat and cold, fears, moods, past illnesses and family history. From this they choose a single remedy and a potency, and arrange a follow-up in a few weeks.
Some homeopaths describe an initial worsening of symptoms, called an aggravation, as a sign that the remedy is acting. Any real worsening of an illness should be assessed medically, rather than waited out.
A good homeopath will also ask what diagnosis you have, what medicines you take and what tests have shown, and will tell you when you need a medical doctor. See Choosing a homeopath.
Two questions are often mixed up. The first is whether people feel better with homeopathic care: many do, and the long, attentive consultation, the reassurance and the natural course of many illnesses all contribute. The second is whether the remedies themselves have an effect beyond placebo. On that, independent reviews of the clinical trials have not found reliable evidence for any condition.
Recognition by a government, as in India, is a decision about regulating a practice that many people use, and about training and standards; it is not in itself evidence that the medicines work. The sensible course for patients is described across this site: use homeopathy, if you choose it, alongside effective medical care, never instead of it. What the research says →
If you would like to try homeopathy, see a registered homeopathic doctor (BHMS or MD (Hom)) who will take a full history, knows your other treatment and will tell you when you need a medical specialist. Take your prescriptions and recent test reports with you.
Search all homeopaths → Are you a homeopathic doctor? Create your profile.
This page is general information, reviewed September 2026. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace a consultation. Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine without talking to the doctor who prescribed it. In an emergency in India call 112 (ambulance 108).
