Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse

Summary

The Wirecutter Show: Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse
Release Date: May 12, 2025

Introduction

In the May 12, 2025 episode of The Wirecutter Show, hosts Christine Cyr Clisset, Kyra Blackwell, and producer Rosie Guerin delve into the increasingly troubling issue of seasonal allergies. Titled "Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse," the episode explores the rising prevalence and intensity of allergies, attributing much of this trend to climate change. The hosts aim to provide listeners with actionable advice, expert insights, and practical solutions to manage and mitigate allergy symptoms effectively.

Climate Change and the Escalation of Allergy Seasons

The episode opens with Rosie Guerin sharing her personal struggles with seasonal allergies, highlighting a broader national concern where "one in four adults in the US suffer from allergies" (00:24). She reflects on the irony of anticipating the vibrancy of spring while grappling with debilitating allergy symptoms.

Christine Cyr Clisset introduces the core topic, emphasizing the tangible impact of climate change on allergy seasons. She states, "Allergy seasons are becoming longer and they really are becoming more intense" (00:24).

Nina Agrawal, a health reporter from The New York Times, joins the discussion to shed light on the scientific data behind this trend. Agrawal explains, "Global warming has caused the season to start about 20 days earlier than it used to," and notes that "pollen concentrations have risen about 20% nationwide since 1990, with Texas and the Midwest experiencing the greatest increases" (03:44 - 04:06). This extension not only lengthens the duration of allergy sufferers' discomfort but also intensifies the severity of symptoms.

Distinguishing Allergies from Other Respiratory Conditions

Kyra Blackwell raises a common concern: "Sometimes it's just hard these days to tell if maybe you have allergies, maybe you have a cold, maybe you have Covid" (04:49). Agrawal addresses this by outlining key differences between allergies and viral infections. She notes that while both conditions share symptoms like congestion and coughing, allergies are more likely to cause pervasive itchiness across the eyes, nose, throat, and even ears. In contrast, viral infections may present with muscle aches, joint pain, or fever—symptoms typically absent in allergies (05:01).

Additionally, Agrawal emphasizes the importance of consistent yearly patterns and personal or family medical history (such as asthma or eczema) as indicators pointing towards allergies rather than other illnesses (05:34).

Managing Allergies: Environmental Controls

The conversation transitions to practical strategies for managing allergies, starting with environmental control. Agrawal advises listeners to "limit the exposure to pollen on really high pollen count days" by utilizing pollen trackers and taking proactive steps such as wearing masks outdoors, keeping windows closed, and showering upon returning home to remove pollen particles (05:52).

Christine Cyr Clisset supplements this advice by discussing indoor air quality measures. She references a previous episode on the show, suggesting the use of air purifiers and high-quality vacuum cleaners to reduce particulate matter and dust, which can harbor pollen. This holistic approach aims to create a safer indoor environment for allergy sufferers regardless of outdoor pollen levels (06:29 - 06:50).

Medication Options for Allergy Relief

Nina Agrawal provides a comprehensive overview of the various medications available for treating allergy symptoms. She categorizes them into three main types: nasal sprays, antihistamines, and decongestants.

1. Nasal Sprays (Corticosteroids):

   • Example: Flonase
   • Function: Reduce inflammation in the eyes, nose, and throat.
   • Usage: Must be started a week or two before symptom onset to be effective.
   • Quote: "Even though they're steroids, they're not absorbed systemically like an oral steroid would be, so they're considered low risk" (07:15).

2. Antihistamines:

   • Examples: Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra (second-generation); Benadryl (first-generation)
   • Function: Alleviate itchiness and inflammation by blocking histamine.
   • Advice: Second-generation antihistamines are preferred as they cause less drowsiness and cognitive impairment. First-generation antihistamines like Benadryl are generally not recommended, especially for older adults, due to risks such as confusion and potential links to dementia.
   • Quotes:
     • "Second generation antihistamines don't [cause as much confusion]" (09:07)
     • "A lot of doctors... steer clear of Benadryl, especially in older patients" (09:32).

3. Decongestants:

   • Examples: Claritin D, Allegra D (contain pseudoephedrine; Sudafed)
   • Function: Relieve nasal congestion.
   • Advice: Not recommended for children and should be used sparingly by adults due to potential increases in heart rate and blood pressure.
   • Quote: "These shouldn't be used in kids at all... use them for a few days at a time" (10:13 - 10:29).

Agrawal emphasizes consulting with a healthcare provider to tailor medication choices to individual needs and to ensure safe and effective use.

Long-term Solutions: Allergy Shots (Immunotherapy)

For individuals who find that traditional medications do not provide sufficient relief, Agrawal discusses the option of immunotherapy, commonly known as allergy shots. This treatment involves gradually introducing increasing amounts of the allergen to build tolerance over time. While not an immediate solution, immunotherapy offers long-term relief that can persist for years.

• Quote: "They take a number of years to work, but they can have effects that last years as well" (10:40).

Conclusion and Recap

Wrapping up the episode, Christine Cyr Clisset provides a succinct recap for listeners:

1. Reduce Pollen Exposure:

   • Wear masks outdoors on high pollen days.
   • Improve indoor air quality with closed windows, air purifiers, and regular cleaning.

2. Understand Medication Options:

   • Utilize nasal sprays and second-generation antihistamines as first-line treatments.
   • Use decongestants sparingly and avoid first-generation antihistamines like Benadryl, especially in older adults.

3. Seek Professional Help if Needed:

   • Consult an allergist for advanced treatments like immunotherapy if over-the-counter medications are insufficient.

Kyra Blackwell directs listeners to Wirecutter's comprehensive coverage and product recommendations for further assistance, ensuring that those struggling with seasonal allergies have access to trusted resources and expert advice.

Final Thoughts

This episode of The Wirecutter Show effectively combines expert insights with practical tips, making it an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with worsening seasonal allergies. By addressing both environmental and medical interventions, the hosts provide a well-rounded approach to managing allergy symptoms in an era of changing climate patterns.

Transcript

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

I'm Rosie Guerin. And you're listening to the Wirecutter Show.

[Kyra Blackwell]

This episode is called Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse.

[Rosie Guerin]

Welcome to the show. Today we're doing a quick bonus episode on something many people are currently struggling with. So seasonal allergies. It's been a rough spring for seasonal allergies, and I feel like a broken record because I keep saying that year after year after year. But because of climate change, allergy seasons are becoming longer and they really are becoming more intense. One in four adults in the US Suffer from allergies. It's definitely on a lot of people's minds right now. I've been struggling with seasonal allergies for most, most of my life, since I was a very, very young kid. This season, obviously, is no exception. One of my toddlers now is experiencing symptoms of seasonal allergies. And that's really hard to watch, my friends. There's this odd juxtaposition that, you know, you're excited for spring and you're really looking forward to the energy, the longer days, the blooms of the flowers, but it's tough not to feel.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Well, that's right. If you believe that you have to pay for things. Like maybe you're having to pay for the beauty outside. Karmically. Karmically. Kyra and I are gonna speak with one of our colleagues from the New York Times who's been reporting about what to do if you have seasonal allergies. Nina Agrawal, a health reporter at the Times, is joining us to talk about how to determine if you're suffering from allergies or something else. Because sometimes it really can be confusing and what you should know about different medications and some of the other strategies you can use to combat seasonal allergies.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yeah. We'll also talk about what Wirecutter recommends for helping reduce the pollen in your own home. And even if you can't control the pollen swarming around, you can do some things to improve your indoor air quality. So we're going to take a quick break, and then we'll be here with Nina. Be right back.

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[Christine Cyrclassette]

Nina, welcome to the show.

[Nina Agrawal]

Hi. Thanks for having me.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

It's great to have you. So a lot of people are struggling right now. It's allergy season. We've been in allergy season for a little while now. This can really span from spring to the end of summer at this point. And it does seem like allergy season is just getting worse year after year. Is that just my imagination or is that true?

[Nina Agrawal]

No, there is actually data to show that the allergy seasons are getting longer and the pollen counts are increasing, and they have been over time. So global warming has caused the season to start about 20 days earlier than it used to.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Yikes.

[Nina Agrawal]

And pollen concentrations have risen about 20% nationwide since 1990. Texas and the Midwest have seen the greatest increases.

[Kyra Blackwell]

But why is that?

[Nina Agrawal]

I think that with global warming, it means that the plants are able to flourish earlier in the season and flourish later in the year as well. And also they are able to grow bigger and produce more pollen per plant.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So that's.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

That's almost a month longer more of allergy season that's happening.

[Nina Agrawal]

Yeah. And so when I spoke to physicians about this, you know, some have been treating allergies for a long time. And they said that one of the physicians I spoke to, who has been treating patients for 40 years, said when he started, there were kind of these three discrete allergy seasons. Eight weeks in the spring, eight weeks in the summer, and eight weeks in the fall, and you would get a break in between. But now it's kind of one long running season.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I mean, I really do feel that, like, sometimes it's just hard these days to tell if maybe you have allergies, maybe you have a cold, maybe you have Covid. So how can somebody tell if they're suffering from allergies or it's something else?

[Nina Agrawal]

So some of the symptoms are definitely overlapping. But the key thing with allergies often is itchiness. It can make the eyes, nose, throat, mouth, ears, even itchy. Allergies can. Can also cause congestion post nasal drip, coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. But if you have a viral infection, you might have muscle aches or joint aches or a fever that you wouldn't have with allergies. And if you typically see symptoms around the same time every year, and if you have a family history or a history yourself of asthma or eczema, those could also be clues that you're having allergies.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

I always feel like I forget that I have allergies and then it comes up again and it takes me a few days to remember, oh, this isn't maybe a cold, it's actually maybe allergies. At which point I usually think, should I take a Claritin? Should taking a medication be the first step if you think you're having allergies?

[Nina Agrawal]

I think it depends on how severe your symptoms are. But most of the experts I spoke with said first, try to manage your environment. You can just try to limit the exposure to pollen on really high pollen count days. You know, there are trackers you can use to see how high the pollen levels are. So limit your exposure. Also try to limit your exposure inside, keeping your windows closed. If you go outside on those high pollen days, wearing a well fitting mask as soon as you get home, shower and change, keep pets out of your bedroom or when they come into the home, wash them. And if you use a saline spray or a neti pot, that can also help a lot of people.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So listeners can also go back and listen to our second episode of the show about how to keep your indoor air quality clean. In that episode, we talk a lot about using an air purifier to reduce particulate matter and using a high quality vacuum and other cleaning tools to just reduce dust, which can help reduce pollen in your home. So we will link to that episode in the show notes.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Nina, I know you did not come here today to give us medical advice, but I would like to talk a little bit about medication for allergies because you've done a lot of reporting on this. I kind of get confused by all of the different allergy medications. In one of your pieces, you break down the differences between nasal sprays and antihistamines and decongestants. So I'm wondering if you could start with nasal sprays. What should people know about these when they're dealing with allergies?

[Nina Agrawal]

So nasal sprays, like Flonase is one you might have heard of, contain a type of steroid. They're called corticosteroids, and these help reduce inflammation in the Eyes in the nose, in the throat. But for them to work, you have to start taking them, you know, a few days to a week or two before your symptoms hit and, you know, so they can really kick in. So a lot of times people who are regular seasonal allergy sufferers, physicians recommend that they get their prescription and or go get their over the counter drugs and start using them a week or two ahead of when they typically begin to experience symptoms. And just a note that even though they're steroids, they're not absorbed systemically like an oral steroid would be, so they're considered low risk.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

So you can still do the Olympics and do.

[Nina Agrawal]

I don't know what the Olympic policy is, but I think so, yes.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Okay, so what about that second one, the antihistamines? I think this is what a lot of people use during allergy season. What should people know about these?

[Nina Agrawal]

For people who have moderate to severe allergies, doctors often recommend the nasal sprays. They tend to work really well. But if you're somebody who has, is using a nasal spray and have a breakout symptoms, or it's a really particularly bad day, or you just occasionally have allergies, sometimes the antihistamines can be enough and they help manage the itchy symptoms. So that itchiness and inflammation is caused by histamine, a chemical that your immune system releases when triggered by an allergen. And these antihistamines can work kind of immediately or, you know, pretty quickly.

[Kyra Blackwell]

So you wouldn't recommend that somebody take them on a daily basis?

[Nina Agrawal]

I think you would have to talk to your doctor about what is the best. I know a lot of allergy sufferers do take them frequently, but sometimes you can manage it better if you have the steroid, like the nasal steroid, and then sometimes use the antihistamine as a backup. Yeah, sometimes doctors say if you try one of these second generation antihistamines and it's not working for you, try another.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

And there are different sort of generations of antihistamines. Right. Like I think I read in one of your pieces that the second generation are things like Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra. But then there's this first generation of antihistamines, which is Benadryl. And you're not necessarily supposed that there's some problems with Benadryl, right?

[Nina Agrawal]

Yeah, I mean, obviously it's still available and I think widely used. But a lot of doctors, this was one of the surprising things I heard in my reporting. Many doctors I spoke with really said they steer clear of Benadryl, especially in older patients, because it can cause confusion and drowsiness. You know, there's been some research linking prolonged long term use of Benadryl to an increased risk of dementia, but those studies weren't causational. And we do know, though, that the use of Benadryl can be associated with increased risk confusion. And the second generation antihistamines don't do that as much.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Okay, great.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Well, what should people know about decongestants, that third category?

[Nina Agrawal]

Yeah. So some antihistamines like Claritin D and Allegra D that come combined with pseudoephedrine, Sudafed. And doctors say these shouldn't be used in kids at all. Adults, if they do use them, should only use them for a few days at a time because they can increase heart rate and blood pressure.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Okay, so let's say someone has tried these various medications. They're just not getting relief. They've still got their runny nose and itchy eyes and they're just miserable. What is another thing that they could do?

[Nina Agrawal]

So ultimately, you know, if you've tried limiting exposure in your environment and limiting your outdoor exposure and tried these various kind of shorter term medications, you might be referred to an allergist and you would might have a talk about starting allergy shots. These are shots that allergists administer, you know, starting with a very small dose and then going progressively higher to sort of increase the amount that you're able to tolerate. But they are not something that's going to like give you relief tomorrow or this season. They take a number of years to work, but they can have effects that last years as well.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Wow. So it's like a long term investment in your allergy relief.

[Nina Agrawal]

Yeah.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Okay.

[Kyra Blackwell]

Nina Agarwal, health reporter at the Times, thank you so much for joining us today.

[Nina Agrawal]

Thanks for having me.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Thanks, Nina. Okay, Kyra, we covered a lot in this episode. So I just want to briefly recap for listeners who are, you know, struggling with allergies right now. And they just kind of want an easy step by step how to approach this problem. So first line of defense, reduce your pollen exposure. So that could be, you know, wearing a mask outside and then really thinking about your indoor air quality when the pollen count is high. Close your windows, take off your shoes and clothes when you come inside the house. Probably wash your clothes, take a shower and keep your home clean. You can use an air purifier to reduce particulate matter, use a good vacuum cleaner and other tools to, you know, get the pollen off your furniture. Off the floors, all of that good stuff. The next step is to understand the differences between the different allergy medications. You're of course going to want to talk to your doctor if you're having really bad symptoms. We are not giving medical advice here, so you should consult your doctor. The main categories of medications are nasal sprays, the kind with corticosteroids in them, antihistamines and those you'll want to use second generation antihistamines like Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra. Probably best to usually stay away from Benadryl. Use the decongestants like Claritin D and Allegra D sparingly. You don't want to use those every day. And if you can't get relief, that is the time to talk to an allergist. You may want to explore having immunotherapy like allergy shots.

[Kyra Blackwell]

If you want to find out more about Wirecutter's coverage or if you want to check out the products that we recommended Today, go to nytimes.com wirecutter or find a link in the show notes. That's it for us till next week. Thank you so much for listening. Bye.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

The Wirecutter show is executive produced by Rosie Guerin and produced by Abigail Keel. Engineering support from Matty Mazziello and Nick Pittman. Today's episode was mixed by Sophia Landman, original music by Dan Powell, Marian Lozano, Alicia Ba Itup and Diane Wong. Wirecutter's deputy publisher and general manager is Cliff Levy. Ben Fruman is Wirecutter's editor in chief. I'm Christine Cyrclassette.

[Kyra Blackwell]

I'm Kyra Blackwell.

[Rosie Guerin]

And I'm Rosie Guerin.

[Christine Cyrclassette]

Thanks for listening.