Guide
Homeopathic Potencies Explained: What 6C, 30C and 200C Mean, and Why the Numbers Run Backwards
What the letter and number on a potency label describe, how 6C, 12C, 30C and 200C differ, the dilution arithmetic honestly stated, and what matters more.
By Homeopathic BenefitsUpdated 7 min read
Key takeaways
- A potency label describes a process, not a quantity. The letter is the dilution ratio (X is 1:10, C is 1:100, LM is 1:50,000) and the number is how many times that step was repeated.
- Higher means more dilute. 6C is a 10⁻¹² dilution, 30C is 10⁻⁶⁰, and the scale runs backwards from ordinary intuition because the tradition counts succussion steps, not substance.
- Beyond about 12C, the arithmetic says nothing of the original substance remains. That is the honest reason mainstream science is sceptical, and also why high potencies are not a poisoning concern.
- Potency matters less than the match. Practitioners generally agree that whether the remedy picture fits the case is the important question; potency is a convention layered on top.
The short answer
A homeopathic potency label describes how many times a starting substance was diluted and succussed, not how much of it is in the vial. The letter gives the dilution ratio (X is 1:10, C is 1:100, LM is 1:50,000) and the number says how many times that step was repeated, so 30C means thirty successive 1:100 dilutions. Higher numbers mean more dilute, which is why the scale runs backwards from ordinary intuition. Beyond about 12C the arithmetic says no molecule of the original substance is likely to remain, which is the honest reason mainstream science is sceptical and also why high potencies are not a poisoning concern. Within the tradition, 30C is the household convention, low potencies are discussed for local physical complaints, and 200C and above are practitioner territory. Which potency is on the label matters far less than whether the remedy picture fits the case at all.
Potency labels confuse almost everyone who meets them, partly because they run backwards from ordinary intuition: in homeopathy's convention, more dilute is labelled higher. This guide explains the system plainly, including the part most sellers skip.
What do the letters and numbers on a potency label mean?
The letter is the dilution ratio and the number is the count of repetitions. A label like 30C describes a preparation process, not a quantity of medicine.
- C means 1:100. One part of the previous solution goes into ninety-nine parts of water or alcohol.
- X (sometimes D, for decimal) means 1:10.
- LM (sometimes Q) means 1:50,000, and by convention starts from a 3C stock rather than from the raw substance.
- The number is how many times the step was repeated. 6C means the 1:100 dilution was performed six times in sequence; 30C means thirty times.
Between each dilution the preparation is succussed, shaken firmly against a surface, which the tradition holds to be essential. Dilution alone is not the method; dilution plus succussion, step by step, is.
| Label | Ratio per step | Steps | Overall dilution | Where it turns up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6X | 1:10 | 6 | 10⁻⁶ | Tissue salts, many combination products |
| 6C | 1:100 | 6 | 10⁻¹² | Low-potency single remedies |
| 12C | 1:100 | 12 | 10⁻²⁴ | Around the point where one molecule per mole would remain |
| 30C | 1:100 | 30 | 10⁻⁶⁰ | The common shelf and home-kit potency |
| 200C | 1:100 | 200 | 10⁻⁴⁰⁰ | Practitioner-managed convention |
| LM1 | 1:50,000 | 1 (from a 3C stock) | About 2 × 10⁻¹¹ (less dilute than 6C) | Practitioner-managed convention |
What is the difference between 6C and 30C?
The same starting substance carried through the same 1:100 step six times or thirty times. Nothing else differs in the recipe. In dilution terms, 6C is 10⁻¹² and 30C is 10⁻⁶⁰; in the tradition's terms, 30C is the higher potency. In practice, 30C is what most single-remedy pellets on a shop shelf are, and what most home kits are built around, while 6C and 6X turn up in tissue salts and combination products. A homeopath choosing between them is following a convention about how potencies are traditionally used, not measuring an amount, and that convention is described further down.
One trap worth naming here: the two scales are not interchangeable at the same number. 6X is six 1:10 steps, a 10⁻⁶ dilution. 6C is six 1:100 steps, 10⁻¹². Read as dilution, 12X equals 6C, not 12C.
Why do the numbers run backwards?
Because the tradition counts what has been done to the preparation, not what is left in it. Each dilution-and-succussion step is held, within homeopathy, to increase the preparation's potency, so more steps means a higher number and, in the tradition's own vocabulary, a stronger remedy. Chemistry counts the opposite way: more steps means less substance. Both readings are describing the same vial; the confusion comes from the word stronger meaning two different things. When a label says 200C, the tradition hears "highly potentised" and a chemist hears "there is nothing in it". Hold both meanings and the labels stop being mysterious.
Does anything of the original substance remain in a 30C remedy?
Almost certainly not, and a trustworthy explanation cannot skip this. Each 1:100 step multiplies the dilution: 6C is 10⁻¹², 12C is 10⁻²⁴, 30C is 10⁻⁶⁰. Chemistry's Avogadro limit sits near 10⁻²³, so beyond roughly 12C it is unlikely that even one molecule of the original substance remains in the vial.
The chart below puts the same arithmetic on one scale: how many molecules of the starting substance would be expected to remain at each common potency, if the preparation began with one mole of it.
Homeopathy has always known this; the tradition's claim is that the preparation process itself matters, not molecular dose. Mainstream science does not accept that claim, and we discuss what the research record says in our guide to homeopathy and the evidence. We would rather you know both things than have the label mystified at you.
One practical consequence follows directly. Properly prepared high-potency remedies are not a poisoning concern in the way the raw source substances would be, and some of those sources are genuinely poisonous plants and minerals. The guide to reading Latin remedy names covers why names like Belladonna and Arsenicum appear on labels at all.
How are potencies traditionally used?
By a rough convention of low, medium and high, tied to how a case is being managed rather than to the complaint's name.
- Low potencies (6X to 12C) are traditionally discussed for repeated use over physical, local complaints, and are where tissue salts sit.
- Medium potencies (30C) are the common household and acute-kit convention. Most over-the-counter single remedies are 30C.
- High potencies (200C and up, and the LM scale) are traditionally reserved for practitioner-managed situations, chosen alongside the whole case rather than off a shelf.
These are conventions of the tradition, not medical instructions. Nothing here tells you what to take; that depends on a whole case picture, which is a conversation rather than a label. Our guide to how a homeopath takes a case shows what that conversation looks like.
What matters more than potency?
Whether the remedy picture fits the case at all. Newcomers agonise over potency selection, and practitioners generally agree it is the less important question. A well-matched pattern in a common potency is a more coherent choice than an exotic potency of a remedy chosen by the complaint's name alone. The match lives in the mechanism, the modalities and the symptoms alongside the symptom, which is the subject our acute pages exist to teach.
What remedy lists don't tell you
Two things the potency charts leave out:
- 30C on a shelf is a manufacturing and labelling convention, not a clinical finding. Manufacturers standardised on it because it is a workable middle potency for a product that has to suit strangers. The shelf tells you what is made, not what a homeopath would choose for a given case.
- A number without its letter is meaningless. "6" on its own could be 6X (10⁻⁶) or 6C (10⁻¹²), a million-fold difference in dilution. Labels always carry both; conversations and hand-written kit cards often drop the letter, which is how "the 30" in a drawer becomes unidentifiable. Our guide to storing and caring for remedies makes the case for writing the full name and potency every time.
Ordering a specific potency
If you already know the remedy and potency you want, our custom single remedy service prepares to order: you tell us the remedy, potency and format, and we confirm availability and exact price by email before anything is made. If you want help thinking about which pattern fits a situation, that is the acute consultation instead; the order form deliberately does not give advice.
This guide is educational only and is not medical advice or a personalized remedy recommendation. Acute symptoms can become urgent; when in doubt, seek professional evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
- Is 30C stronger than 6C?
- In the tradition's own vocabulary, yes: 30C is called a higher potency because it has been through thirty dilution-and-succussion steps rather than six. In chemistry's vocabulary, 30C is far more dilute, a 10⁻⁶⁰ dilution against 10⁻¹² for 6C. Both statements describe the same vial; the word stronger means different things in each.
- What does 200C mean on a homeopathic label?
- 200C means the starting substance was diluted 1:100 and succussed two hundred times in sequence. It is a 10⁻⁴⁰⁰ dilution, far beyond the point where any molecule of the original substance is expected to remain. In traditional practice, 200C and above are considered practitioner-managed potencies rather than household ones.
- Which potency is in most over-the-counter homeopathic remedies?
- 30C is the common shelf potency for single remedies sold in pellet form, and it is the convention most home kits are built around. Low potencies such as 6X and 6C appear in tissue salts and many combination products. The label always states the potency next to the Latin name, and the two together are the full description of what is in the vial.
- Are high-potency remedies a poisoning risk?
- Properly prepared preparations at 12C and above are not expected to contain a molecule of the source substance, so the vial is not the poison even when the source is one. Low-potency products, mother tinctures and 1X or 2X preparations of toxic sources are a different matter and carry their own labelling. Read the label, and keep every health product out of children's reach regardless.