Many people confuse homeopathic with herbal products, most probably because homeopathic products are often derived from herbs and are called by their botanical name, e.g. both herbal and homeopathic products prepared using aloe will be called aloe. Further confusion may result from the fact that a single manufacturer may produce both homeopathic and herbal products.

Homeopaths believe that homeopathy is based on three main principles, namely that like cures like, the minimal dose, and the use of a single medicine. Within the minimum dose principle is embodied the idea that the more dilute a medicine, the more potent it becomes, and that this potentisation requires a series of dilution and succussion (shaking) stages. Click here to view a table detailing the main difference between herbal and homeopathic products.

Herbal medicine is the use of plant remedies in the treatment of disease, and many currently used conventional medicines have their origins in herbal products and plant materials. Herbal products subscribe to dose-response pharmacology where the biological response varies in direct proportion to the dose or concentration of the product. Herbal products are known to cause adverse effects and to interact with conventional medicines.

The main difference between herbal and homeopathic products is that with herbal products, increasing the dose would be expected to increase the therapeutic effect, while homeopathic practitioners believe that the more a homeopathic product is diluted, the greater effect the product is expected to have. In addition, the dilution and succussion steps involved in the product of a homeopathic product are believed by homeopaths to be critical to the efficacy of the product. Furthermore, due to the different philosophies used in selecting a treatment for a condition, it would be reasonably expected that herbal and homeopathic products could not be used to treat the same condition, although this is not always the case in practice.

View our quick reference guide to Homeopathic and herbal products or click on the links in the 'More information' box to read more.

Dilution – homeopathic dilutions are usually centesimal, where 1 drop is added to 99 drops of diluent, or decimal where 1 drop is added to 9 drops of diluent. Diluents are generally ethanol and water mixtures.

Potentisation (also called dynamisation or attenuation) – homeopaths believe that this process increases the power of homeopathic products by successive dilutions and succussions of a mother tincture. Potentisation cannot occur without both dilution and succussion.

Succussion – the forceful agitation between each dilution step during the product of the homeopathic product. The number of times a product is succussed after each dilution step of potentisation is not well defined and can range from 20 to 100.

Mother Tincture – liquid products obtained following the maceration, incubation, and extraction of plant material, usually with an ethanol/water mixture. Mother tinctures can be given undiluted by the oral or topical routes, but are usually subject to
potentisation.