**Cosmetic Procedures in the Treatment of Alopecia**

**Cosmetic Procedures in the Treatment of Alopecia**

Selda Pelin Kartal, Cemile Altunel and Bilgen Gencler Gencler Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Selda Pelin Kartal, Cemile Altunel and Bilgen

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/66747

#### **Abstract**

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10.1056/NEJMra1103442

Alopecia has a significant negative impact on the quality of life. Unfortunately, there is no satisfactory cure for most types of alopecia. Alopecia is divided into cicatricial and noncicatricial types. Androgenetic alopecia, alopecia areata, and telogen effluvium are common forms of noncicatricial alopecias. In order to treat or improve the appearance, various procedures that are being applied for different types of alopecia including mesotherapy, microneedling, platelet‐rich plasma, low‐level light therapy, and stem‐cell therapy with variable outcomes are reviewed in this chapter.

**Keywords:** alopecia, hair loss, mesotherapy, microneedling, platelet‐rich plasma, low‐ level light therapy, stem‐cell therapy

### **1. Introduction**

Alopecia (hair loss) is a common problem in dermatology setting and it has a significant negative impact on the quality of life. Therefore, most patients seek for treatment in order to improve their appearance although there is no satisfactory cure for most types of alopecia. Alopecia is divided into cicatricial and noncicatricial types. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), alopecia areata (AA), and telogen effluvium are common forms of noncicatricial alopecias. Telogen effluvium is the diffuse hair shedding caused by physiological, hormonal metabolic stress, or by drugs. AGA is caused by the effect of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on hair follicles leading to their miniaturization. It is seen in different appearances in males and females. In males, AGA presents as hairline recession and vertex balding. Unlike in men, female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is characterized by diffuse hair thinning over the crown with retention of the frontal hairline. AA is caused by autoimmune destruction of hair follicles involving cell‐based and humoral immunity [1].

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Various cosmetic procedures are being applied for different types of alopecia including mesotherapy, microneedling, platelet‐rich plasma (PRP), low‐level light therapy, and stem‐cell therapy with variable outcomes [2, 3].

In this chapter, the above‐mentioned cosmetic treatments for alopecia are briefly described.
