Does Gargling With Salt Water Actually Help With Sore or Infected Throats?

Gargling with salt water is often suggested in home remedy books, online and perhaps by your mother to help with sore or infected throats. Does it really help or is it an old wives tale? Let’s find out.

Does Gargling With Salt Water Actually Help With Sore or Infected Throats?

Bacteria – like the kind that can cause a sore throat – are single-celled organisms which can group together to cause some pretty nasty symptoms in humans. While some bacteria are actually beneficial to the human body – like the kind in our digestive system – they are often directly responsible for many human illnesses, including sore throats.

These bacteria are also full of fluid. When you gargle with concentrated salt water, osmosis occurs. Osmosis is what happens when solvents, separated by a semi-permeable membrane, move from lower concentrations to higher concentrations. The two sides want to move towards an equilibrium.

Excess Fluid

The high concentration of salt helps to draw liquid from the throat. Specifically drawing out the edema (excess fluid), which naturally occurs during infection, out of the tissue which reduces swelling. This in turn makes your throat feel better. The salt also may kill off some of the bacteria but many strains are resistant to the mild levels of salt. It is a misconception to think that the salt water will directly kill off the bacteria. Gargling with salt water simply creates a dehydrated environment that the bacteria find less hospitable and potentially dangerous.

Because salt is more soluble in warmer water, it is recommended for sore throats that gargling with warm salt water as frequently as you can – or up to 8 times a day, to help reduce swelling and soreness.

However, many sore throat infections are also often lodged down in tonsillar crypts. This means that they would not be as exposed to the oral environment and gargling with salt water would do little to help.