Mounting Evidence That Saline Nasal Drops and Sprays Help Treat Colds

Saline nose drops appear to speed up our recovery from the common cold. In the latest study on the subject, children treated with a homemade version of these drops stopped showing symptoms, such as sneezing and a stuffy nose, two days sooner than those who didn’t have them.

Over 200 viruses can cause cold-like symptomswhich makes it difficult to develop general but effective treatments that target them. As a result, most cold therapies only relieve symptoms, rather than shorten their duration.

But research increasingly suggests that saline solutions may be the exception. Studies have found that adults who use saline nose drops or sprays for a cold experience reduced symptoms, quicker recovery AND are less likely to transmit the infection.

Now, Steve Cunningham at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and his colleagues tested the approach in children. Parents of 150 kids with cold symptoms were asked to place three drops of a saline solution in each nostril of their child at least four times a day, starting within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms and continuing until they resolved. The water-based solution, which the parents mixed themselves, was 2.6 percent salt.

A separate group of 151 children received their parents’ usual cold care, such as over-the-counter medications or encouragement to rest. All children were younger than 7 years old, and their symptoms were recorded by their parents.

The researchers found that those who started using the drops within 24 hours of symptoms onset recovered two days faster than those who didn’t use them at all. Other family members were also less likely to develop cold symptoms. But children who started using the drops later didn’t fare any better than those who didn’t use them at all, and they weren’t any less likely to pass on colds.

Cunningham, who will present the findings at a meeting of the European Respiratory Society in Vienna, Austria, on Sept. 8, says the chloride ions in the saline solution could prompt cells to create more of an antiviral substance called hypochlorous acid. However, this may have to start early in the infection, before the virus becomes more established, he says.

But William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee is skeptical that this approach actually helps eliminate viral infections. “I’d like to see a lot more [evidence] to convince me that this is an antiviral effect, rather than symptomatic relief,” he says.

The researchers could have treated a separate group of children with plain water drops or a low-concentration saline solution, Schaffner says. That could tell us whether saline nose drops speed healing by targeting virus or simply relieve symptoms by moistening the mucous membranes, he says.