Can Sore Throat Be Treated With Salt Water Or Not?

Has it ever occurred to you that you had a sore throat and your grandma or some elder person in your house just asked you to do some gargling with saltwater? Well, we are pretty sure that this happened with you which is why today you are here trying to figure out whether it’s even a legit remedy or not.

Now, regarding this remedy, we’ve got good and bad news for you. The good news is that saltwater is basically hyper-tonic which means that yes, it can help you in getting some relief from the sore throat pain. The bad news is that it cannot cure your sore throat. Moreover, your throat will eventually take some time, like 3 to 4 days to come back to its normal position.

Now, of course, sore throat comes with both, irritation and pain which is why you can cure the “pain” part by just gargling saltwater. Saltwater comes with a higher osmotic pressure than the one that’s inside the fluid of your cells. Now, what happens is that when you submerge your cells in this water, the liquid inside the cells is drawn and it comes to the surface.

With this, all the virus and bacteria comes to the surface too and when you spit that saltwater out after gargling, some of that virus comes out with it. All this process means that yes, your condition will get a little better but again, it’s not going to attack the root cause of your sore throat and that problem of yours will take some days to come to an end.

How Much Salt Water Should You Take?

Honestly, there are no side effects to take saltwater but the salt content inside the water makes some difference. It’s simply that the saltier the water, the more effective it’s going to be for your sore throat. If you think that adding just a pinch of salt in the water will make a difference, you are wrong!

You are supposed to make sure that the water you are about to gargle with, it’s saltier than your tears. Also, for more effectiveness, heat up water a little so that it can increase the blood flow in your throat and this way you will end up feeling a lot better than before.

As far as the type of salt is concerned, well, you don’t have to worry about that because any salt will work here. It’s just the salt content you need to be careful about.

Lastly, a blood pressure patient shouldn’t try this remedy because eventually we end up swallowing some of it and that will definitely shoot the blood pressure if someone’s a patient. Overall, it’s a safe remedy and yes, anyone with a sore throat can try it for some pain relief. If you are suffering from coughing as well, we recommend checking this article to know about the best natural remedies for coughing.