I don't know anything about the salts, I haven't used them, but I have Zapped my throat. Actually, I recommend this for a sore throat. One time in particular, I had a sore throat when I woke up, so I put the zapper on. I can't remember if it was the first or second 7 minutes, but it was in the first minutes of it I coughed up a chunk of flem and it was gone. I had no sore throat any more.