Does creatine cause hair loss?

By Scott Blaine Hoffman · Updated November 10, 2026

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Where the creatine hair-loss fear came from

Almost every "creatine makes you bald" claim traces back to one paper: van der Merwe and colleagues, published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine in 2009. Twenty college-aged rugby players took creatine in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design: 25 g a day for 7 days (a loading phase), then 5 g a day for 14 days.

• Serum DHT rose about 56% after the loading week and stayed about 40% above baseline after the maintenance phase.
• The DHT-to-testosterone ratio rose 36%, then settled to 22% above baseline.
• Testosterone itself did not change.
• Hair was never measured. No shedding counts, no density, no photos.

Because DHT is the hormone that shrinks genetically sensitive hair follicles, the internet connected the dots: creatine raises DHT, DHT causes baldness, therefore creatine causes baldness. It was a reasonable hypothesis. It was never a finding. See both studies side by side.

The 2025 trial that measured hair

In 2025 researchers published the first randomized controlled trial designed specifically to test the question, in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Resistance-trained men aged 18 to 40 took either 5 g of creatine monohydrate or a placebo every day for 12 weeks while continuing to train.

The team measured total testosterone, free testosterone and DHT, and used scalp imaging to assess hair density, follicular unit counts and hair thickness. The result: no meaningful differences between the creatine and placebo groups on any hormone or hair measure. Small hormone fluctuations happened in both groups equally.

What the evidence still doesn't tell us

Honesty matters on a site like this, so here are the gaps:

• The 2025 trial lasted 12 weeks. Pattern hair loss develops over years.
• It studied healthy men and excluded people already diagnosed with hair-loss disorders.
• It used 5 g a day, not the 20 to 25 g loading doses used in the 2009 study.
• No trial has yet looked at women specifically. See creatine hair loss in women.

So the fair summary is: the evidence does not support creatine causing hair loss at standard doses, and the one signal that ever existed (higher DHT during high-dose loading) has not been confirmed since.

Who should be more careful

If baldness runs in your family, you already see a receding hairline or crown thinning, or you are on testosterone (TRT, anabolics or SARMs), your follicles are already under pressure from DHT. Creatine is very unlikely to be the deciding factor, but there's no reason to take extra risk either:

• Use 3 to 5 g a day and skip the loading phase. You reach full muscle saturation in about 3 to 4 weeks either way.
• Take photos of your hairline and crown in the same light every month so you are judging facts, not mirror anxiety.
• Start a DHT-focused routine if you are already thinning. Here's the full plan.

What is actually causing your hair loss?

Most young men who notice thinning while taking creatine are simply hitting the age when genetic pattern hair loss shows up, often around the same time they start lifting seriously. Other common causes in lifters:

• Androgenetic alopecia (male or female pattern hair loss): gradual recession at the temples, thinning at the crown or part.
• Telogen effluvium: diffuse shedding 2 to 3 months after a trigger such as an aggressive cut, illness, surgery or major stress.
• Hormones: testosterone therapy, anabolic steroids and SARMs raise androgen exposure far more than any supplement.
• Nutrition: low iron, very low calorie diets or inadequate protein.

A dermatologist can tell these apart in one visit. The good news: pattern hair loss is treatable, especially if you start early. See the best hair loss treatments for lifters.

Should you keep taking creatine?

For most people, yes. Creatine has one of the best safety records of any supplement and real benefits for strength, muscle and possibly cognition. If you are anxious about your hair, the right move is to treat the hair loss directly rather than give up a supplement the evidence says is not responsible.

Want a clean, tested product? See our best creatine for hair loss worries or the full best creatine supplements guide.

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