Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse (Encore)

Summary

The Wirecutter Show: "Seasonal Allergies Are Getting Worse (Encore)"
April 17, 2026
Hosts: Christine Cyr Clisset & Caira Blackwell
Producer: Rosie Guerin
Guest: Nina Agarwal (Health Reporter, The New York Times)

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Episode Overview

This bonus episode of The Wirecutter Show tackles the growing challenge of seasonal allergies, focusing on why allergy seasons are becoming longer and more intense—primarily due to climate change—and what effective strategies, tools, and products allergy sufferers can use for relief. Health reporter Nina Agarwal joins to clarify common misconceptions, differentiate between allergy symptoms and other illnesses, decode medications, and share actionable tips to control allergens in your environment.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Are Seasonal Allergies Worsening?

With Nina Agarwal, 03:52–04:56

• Longer and More Intense Seasons:

  • Global warming has led to allergy season starting about 20 days earlier and lasting almost a month longer than before.
  • “Pollen concentrations have risen about 20% nationwide since 1990. Texas and the Midwest have seen the greatest increases.” — Nina Agarwal (04:27)

• Why This Is Happening:

  • Warmer temperatures mean plants flourish earlier and longer, with increased growth leading to more pollen production.

  “With global warming, plants are able to flourish earlier in the season and later in the year as well. They grow bigger and produce more pollen per plant.” — Nina Agarwal (04:36)

• Changing Seasons:

  • Allergy seasons that were once distinct (spring, summer, fall) now blend into one long, drawn-out season.

  “Now it's kind of one long running season.” — Nina Agarwal (05:12)

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2. Is It Allergies, a Cold, or Something Else?

05:19–06:04

• Key Symptoms of Allergies vs. Illnesses:

  • Allergies: Primarily cause itchiness (eyes, nose, throat, mouth, ears), congestion, post nasal drip, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath.
  • Illnesses: Viral infections like colds or COVID-19 often include fever, muscle/joint aches, which are not typical for allergies.

  “The key thing with allergies often is itchiness... But if you have a viral infection, you might have muscle aches or joint aches or a fever.” — Nina Agarwal (05:31)

• Family History Is Telling:

  • Recurring symptoms at the same time each year or a family/personal history of asthma or eczema point toward allergies.

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3. Managing Allergies: Environmental Controls

06:22–06:59

• First Line of Defense: Reduce Exposure

  • Use pollen trackers and avoid going outdoors on high pollen days.
  • Keep windows closed and shower/change clothes immediately after being outside.

  “On high pollen count days... limit your exposure. Keep your windows closed. Wear a well fitting mask outside. As soon as you get home, shower and change.” — Nina Agarwal (06:27)

• Other Tips:

  • Use saline spray or a neti pot to flush out allergens.
  • Wash pets when they come inside; keep them out of your bedroom.
  • Regularly clean indoor spaces with HEPA-filter vacuums and air purifiers.

  “Use an air purifier to reduce particulate matter. Use a good vacuum cleaner and other tools to get the pollen off your furniture, off the floors.” — Christine Cyr Clisset (12:10)

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4. Allergy Medications Demystified

07:20–11:10

a. Nasal Sprays (Corticosteroids)

• E.g. Flonase; reduce inflammation in eyes, nose, throat.

• Most effective when started 1–2 weeks before symptoms typically appear.

  “Physicians recommend that regular seasonal allergy sufferers get their drugs and start using them a week or two ahead...” — Nina Agarwal (07:45)

b. Antihistamines

• Second-generation (Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra): Effective with fewer side effects (e.g., drowsiness).

• First-generation (Benadryl): Sedative side effects, riskier for elderly (confusion, possible link to dementia with long-term use).

  “Many doctors I spoke with said they steer clear of Benadryl, especially in older patients, because it can cause confusion and drowsiness.” — Nina Agarwal (10:02)

c. Decongestants

• Combined with antihistamines as in Claritin D, Allegra D (contain pseudoephedrine/Sudafed).

• Not for children; adults should use only for a few days as they can raise blood pressure/heart rate.

  “Doctors say these shouldn't be used in kids at all... adults should use them only for a few days.” — Nina Agarwal (10:43)

d. When Medications Aren’t Enough:

• Allergy shots (immunotherapy) are an option for persistent symptoms and are a longer-term commitment (take years to build immunity but can provide lasting relief).

  “They’re not something that’s going to 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.” — Nina Agarwal (11:10)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There’s this odd juxtaposition... you’re excited for spring...but it’s tough not to feel you have to pay for it.” — Rosie Guerin (00:22)
• “Now it’s kind of one long running season.” — Nina Agarwal (05:12)
• “The key thing with allergies often is itchiness.” — Nina Agarwal (05:31)
• “Many doctors I spoke with really said they steer clear of Benadryl, especially in older patients.” — Nina Agarwal (10:02)
• “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.” — Christine Cyr Clisset (12:45)

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Step-by-Step: How to Approach Seasonal Allergies

Recap by Christine Cyr Clisset (12:57–13:25)

1. Reduce Pollen Exposure
   • Use masks, keep windows shut, wash/exchange clothes, shower after being outside.
   • Use air purifiers and quality vacuums to clean indoor spaces.
2. Understand Medications
   • Nasal corticosteroid sprays: Start before symptoms.
   • Second-generation antihistamines: Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra.
   • Avoid Benadryl (especially in elderly); use decongestants sparingly.
3. For Persistent Symptoms
   • See an allergist about allergy shots/immunotherapy.

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Wirecutter Recommendations

See show notes for products and further guidance: nytimes.com/wirecutter

• Air purifiers
• HEPA-filter vacuum cleaners
• Saline nasal sprays/neti pots

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For more allergy help, product picks, and episode resources, visit the show notes at Wirecutter.

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End of content summary (skipped ads, intros, and outros as instructed).

Transcript

[A]

I'm christine cyrclassette.

[B]

I'm kyra blackwell.

[C]

I'm rosie guerin and you're listening to the wirecutter show. Hey, it's Rosie. So last spring we released this really helpful bonus episode about allergies and how to keep them in check. Spoiler alert. It's pollen season again, so we thought we'd re air it. Good luck out there, people. Welcome to the show. Today we're doing a quick bonus episode on something many people are currently struggling with, seasonal allergies because of climate change allergy. Seasons are becoming longer and they really are becoming more intense. One in four adults in the US Suffering. I've been struggling with seasonal allergies for most of my life, since I was a very, very young kid. 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.

[A]

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, yeah. Karmically, not for it. Kyra and I are gonna speak with one of our colleagues from the New York Times who's been report to do if you have seasonal allergies. Nina Agarwal, 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.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

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 outside, you can do some things to improve your indoor air quality. So. So we're going to take a quick break and then we'll be here with Nina. Be right back.

[D]

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[E]

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[F]

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[A]

Nina, welcome to the show. Hi.

[G]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

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?

[G]

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.

[B]

Yikes.

[G]

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

[B]

But why is that?

[G]

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.

[A]

So that's, that's almost a month longer. More of allergy season. That's happening.

[G]

Yeah. And so when I spoke to physicians about this, you know, some of 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.

[B]

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?

[G]

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 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.

[A]

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?

[G]

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.

[B]

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.

[A]

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, 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?

[G]

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.

[A]

Okay, so you can still do the Olympics and do.

[G]

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

[A]

I think so, yes.

[B]

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?

[G]

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 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.

[B]

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

[G]

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.

[A]

Like a backup.

[G]

Yeah, sometimes doctors say if you try one of these second generation antihistamines and it's not working for you, try another.

[A]

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?

[G]

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 confusion. And the second generation antihistamines don't do that as much.

[A]

Okay, right.

[B]

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

[G]

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.

[A]

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?

[G]

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.

[A]

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

[G]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

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

[G]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

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 hot, 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.

[B]

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.

[F]

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