Abstract
Background
Telogen effluvium is a common diffuse nonscarring alopecia that can cause substantial psychological distress, while currently available treatments are often slow to provide symptom relief.
Methods
We performed a retrospective single‐center analysis of 149 patients with TE treated between January 2023 and December 2025. Patients received intramuscular injections of compound betamethasone. Outcomes extracted from medical records included early treatment response, time to symptom improvement, duration of effect, recurrence‐free intervals, and adverse events.
Results
The mean patient age was 33.5 ± 9.0 years, and 98.0% were female. A chronic disease course was present in 73.8% of patients. After the first injection, 38.9% of patients achieved marked improvement without an immediate need for further injections, whereas most patients required repeated treatment. A total of 40.0% of patients showed improvement within 7 days, followed by 14 days (26.7%) and 3 days (16.7%). The most frequently documented duration of benefit after a single injection was 21 days. Except for 3.3% of the patients experiencing menstrual disorders, no serious side effects were documented.
Limitations
This was a retrospective, single‐center study without a control group. The efficacy outcomes rely largely on patient‐reported improvement in hair shedding, without standardized objective measurements, and detailed onset and duration data were available for only a subset of treated patients.
Conclusions
Intramuscular compound betamethasone may provide a rapid short‐term reduction in hair shedding in selected patients with TE and may be a useful adjunctive option in chronic or recurrent disease.