Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss? What the Only Direct Trial Found

Does creatine cause hair loss? On current evidence, no. The worry comes from a single 2009 study in 20 rugby players in which a hormone linked to hair loss, DHT, rose after creatine loading; that study never measured hair. In 2025, the first trial to measure hair directly gave 5 g of creatine a day for 12 weeks and found no change in DHT or in hair density, follicle count or hair thickness compared with placebo. The question is not fully closed for men already prone to baldness, but there is no good evidence that creatine causes it.

The short version

• Where the myth started: a 2009 study found DHT rose 56% after a week of high-dose creatine loading. It did not look at hair.
• The direct test: a 2025 randomised trial, 5 g a day for 12 weeks, found no difference from placebo in DHT or in three measures of hair.
• What is still unknown: longer use, effects in men already losing hair, and DHT activity in the scalp itself.
• Practical takeaway: if you are worried, use 3–5 g a day without a loading phase, the dose tested in the 2025 trial.

How this article was done

I have not taken creatine for this article. I read the two human studies that address the question, a 2021 expert review of common creatine questions, and independent summaries of the 2025 trial, including a critique from a hair-loss organisation. This is general information, not medical advice, and it follows my methodology.

Why people think creatine causes hair loss

Male-pattern baldness is driven mainly by genetics and by DHT (dihydrotestosterone), a hormone made from testosterone that shrinks hair follicles in people who are sensitive to it. So anything that raises DHT is a plausible concern.

In 2009, a study in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine gave 20 college rugby players creatine (25 g a day for 7 days, then 5 g a day for 14 days) or a placebo. DHT rose by 56% after the loading week and stayed 40% above baseline after the maintenance period, while testosterone did not change. That result spread quickly online as “creatine causes hair loss”.

But the study had clear limits: it was small, short, used a high loading dose, measured DHT in the blood only, the levels reportedly stayed within the normal range, and, most importantly, it never measured hair. It has also never been replicated.

The 2025 trial that measured hair

In 2025, researchers published the first randomised, placebo-controlled trial designed to answer the question, in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Healthy young men took 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day or a placebo for 12 weeks; 38 completed the study. The researchers measured testosterone, free testosterone and DHT in the blood, and assessed hair density, follicular unit count and hair thickness.

The result: no significant difference between creatine and placebo in DHT, in the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or in any of the hair measures. Testosterone changed over the 12 weeks in both groups alike, so not because of creatine. The authors concluded that the study provides strong evidence against the claim that creatine contributes to hair loss.

What the 2025 trial does not settle

A fair reading needs the limits too. A hair-loss organisation, the American Hair Loss Association, pointed out that the trial:

• measured DHT in the blood, not in the scalp, where hair loss happens;
• lasted 12 weeks, while hair loss develops over months and years;
• studied healthy young men, not men already losing their hair or known to be genetically prone.

So the honest conclusion is: there is no evidence that creatine causes hair loss, and the one direct test found no effect, but nobody has yet tested long-term use in men with early balding.

Should you worry?

• No family history or signs of hair loss: the evidence gives no reason for concern.
• Already thinning or a strong family history: the risk is unproven, not ruled out. Using 3–5 g a day without a loading phase matches the dose tested in 2025, and a dermatologist can advise on hair loss itself.
• Women: no study has linked creatine to hair loss in women.

Creatine’s other common concern, weight gain, is covered in does creatine make you gain weight.

Wondering when to take it? Creatine before or after a workout covers what five head-to-head studies found.

Choosing a product? The best creatine powders compares six on purity, verified testing and price per 5 g.

For every reported side effect and what the trials show, see creatine side effects: what is real and what is a myth.

Wondering when you will see results? How long creatine takes to work gives the week-by-week timeline.

Common questions

Does creatine cause baldness?

No study has shown it. The one trial that measured hair directly, over 12 weeks at 5 g a day, found no difference from placebo.

Does creatine increase DHT?

One small 2009 study found blood DHT rose after a high-dose loading week. The 2025 trial, at 5 g a day for 12 weeks, found no change. The 2009 finding has not been replicated.

Does creatine cause hair loss in women?

There is no evidence of it. The research on creatine and hair has been done in men.

Will hair grow back if I stop creatine?

There is no evidence that creatine causes hair loss in the first place. If you are losing hair, the usual cause is genetic, and stopping creatine is unlikely to change it; see a dermatologist.

Is there a creatine that does not cause hair loss?

No form has been shown to cause hair loss, so no form avoids it. Creatine monohydrate is the form used in the trials.

Sources

• Lak M et al. Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2025
• van der Merwe J et al. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2009
• Antonio J et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2021
• American Hair Loss Association — Creatine and hair loss: what the latest study got right and what it missed. 2025