Does rinsing your nose with salt water help colds?
Saline nasal irrigation for acute upper respiratory tract infections.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 520 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Publication
Journal
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews
Year
2010
Authors
J. Kassel, David King, G. Spurling
Related Content
Claims (6)
Using saltwater nose rinses can help you get over a cold faster, cut down on how much medicine you need, and make it less likely to spread the cold to others in your home.
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.
Using saltwater nose rinses might help working adults get back to work faster when they have colds or sinus infections, which could save money.
About 4 out of 10 babies didn't handle saline nose drops well when they had colds, showing that many little kids don't like this treatment.