Salt water and sore throats

A couple weeks ago I was coughing and had a sore throat.  I was told to try gargling salt water and it actually helped quite a bit!  My throat felt much better afterwards.  However I was curious why this worked as it seemed so simple.

Sore throats are inflamed because of bacteria in the tissues.  Apparently the bad bacteria like a wet environment and salt makes the environment less hospitable, though it doesn't actually directly kill the bacteria.  The inflammations are filled with water and because of osmosis the salt water dehydrates them, making the environment less suitable for bacteria.  Since this doesn't kill them it's recommended that you do this several times a day to keep the bacteria at bay.