Gargling is the act of bubbling liquid in the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

. It is also the washing of one's mouth and throat with a liquid, such as

mouthwash Mouthwash, mouth rinse, oral rinse, or mouth bath is a liquid which is held in the mouth passively or swilled around the mouth by contraction of the perioral muscles and/or movement of the head, and may be gargling, gargled, where the head is ti ...

, that is kept in motion by breathing through it with a gurgling sound. A traditional home remedy of gargling warm saltwater is sometimes recommended to soothe a sore throat. One study in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

has shown that gargling water a few times a day will lower the chance of

upper respiratory infection An upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is an illness caused by an acute infection, which involves the upper respiratory tract, including the human nose, nose, Paranasal sinus, sinuses, pharynx, larynx or trachea. This commonly includes nasal ...

s such as

common cold The common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. Signs and symptoms may appear fewer than two days after exposu ...

s, though some medical authorities are skeptical.

References

Oral hygiene {{Health-stub

See also

References