When people use saltwater rinses for stuffy noses from colds, they often feel a little bit of discomfort. This shows that even though it's mostly safe, it can still have some minor bad effects.

Using saltwater nose rinses for colds and sinus infections doesn't seem to help adults much, according to studies comparing it to other treatments.

Using saltwater nose rinses might help you get over a cold about a third of a day faster, but the study wasn't sure if this small difference was real luck or just chance.

In a small test, most people found that using saltwater nose rinses and gargling helped their cold symptoms and were happy to do it, showing it might work well for bigger studies.

Using saltwater nose rinses and gargling might help healthy adults with colds use 36% less store-bought medicine, according to a small study. This could mean fewer people need drugs for cold symptoms, but bigger studies are needed to be sure.