Male hair loss may be the basis of many jokes, but for the men it affects it is anything but funny. Reporter Laura Stuart-Cook meets one Grimsby man whose confidence was shattered by hair loss and looks at how his life has been turned around by a state-of-the-art treatment.

LAST time Brett Hemsley went abroad on holiday he was stopped by airport security because he looks so different to his passport photograph.

Just over a year ago the 27-year-old decided to do something about his severely receding hairline and opted for a bespoke hair replacement system.

It has left him with both a full head of hair and a new sense of self-confidence – which his family feared they may never see in him again.

Brett, who is a tenancy support worker, said: "Baldness runs in my family so it was something I knew was going to affect me from a young age.

"My dad is bald, my uncles are bald and my three older brothers all have receding hairlines too.

"I noticed my hairline starting to go back when I was only 19 and it really affected my self-confidence.

"I've always been quite proud of my appearance but to constantly be feeling insecure because of my hair was awful.

"I was always messing about with it and trying to style it to look thicker. Some days I just wouldn't want to go out of the house because I felt so self- conscious.

"I was paranoid that people were staring at it and I knew that it made me look so much older than I was."

According to the London Centre for Trichology – which deals with all things hair-related – 30 per cent of 30-year-olds, and half of 50-year-olds suffer from baldness.

And in its extreme form, some males start to lose their hair at the age of 16 and are almost entirely bald by the time they reach their early twenties.

A spokesperson for the centre said: "The age at which you might develop the condition is determined by your gene pool.

"It's all down to what's commonly known as male pattern balding or the more medically correct terms, male pattern alopecia and androgenetic alopecia.

"Male hormones are called androgens. The way they work and affect each male depends on what you've inherited from your parents.

"If your great-grandparents, grandfathers, fathers, uncles and brothers have experienced early hair loss then there's a greater likelihood of it happening to you."

Keen to do something about his rapidly-thinning hairline, Brett turned to the internet for solutions.

The former Matthew Humberstone School pupil said: "I found out about a clinic in Leeds and went for a consultation but they didn't offer me any real solutions.

"I looked into hair transplants but they are better suited to older people because if I had one now and then my hair receded further in a few years, I would be left looking ridiculous."

It was then that Brett found out about the Angela Smith Positive Image Clinic based in Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes.

The clinic specialises in hair replacement systems, such as wigs and toupees, for people suffering from a range of hair loss conditions, including cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Owner Angela, pictured below – who came up with the idea for the clinic while she was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer herself – is also trained in permanent and medical cosmetics, such as eyelash and eyebrow enhancements.

Brett said: "I booked an appointment and Angela put me instantly at ease. She really seemed to know her stuff and explained that I could have a custom-made hair replacement system.

"My brothers were laughing at me when I said I was going to find out about getting a wig but the examples she showed me were incredible.

"She took a sample of my own hair so that it could be perfectly matched to real human hair and then sent off for my wig to be made.

"It took about three months in total and I was really worried the morning before I went to have it fitted because I knew I would have to have the top of my hair shaved off before the wig could be attached.

"As soon as it was fitted and my own hair was cut in around it I couldn't believe how good it looked. My brothers might have been laughing before but they were really impressed when they saw it.

"I use an adhesive to keep it on and it's brilliant – I can even shower in it and swim in it. I just have to go back every month so that Angela can clean it correctly and cut my own hair around it.

"The difference it has made to my confidence is unbelievable. Now I can just get up in the morning and not have to worry about people staring at me.

"A lot of people who don't see me that regularly have said 'there's something different about you' but can't actually tell what it is as it looks so natural.

"It has completely changed my life and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to other men in the same situation.

"Now I just need to get a new passport photograph!"

Hair replacement expert Angela has a regular male clientele who go to her for custom-made hair replacement systems, which start from £550.

She said: "Everybody thinks that men can just put up with jokes and jibes about baldness but it can be just as upsetting for them as it is for a woman.

"Men want to feel confident and sexy when they look in the mirror, too, and while one man might not mind going bald, for another it can ruin his self-confidence.

"It's wonderful to be able to see the look on someone like Brett's face when I have finished with their hair and they are instantly more confident."