Does creatine cause hair loss?

Almost certainly not, based on the research we have. The entire fear traces to a single 20-person study from 2009 that never actually measured hair. It measured a hormone loosely associated with male pattern baldness and found a short-lived bump. No follow-up study has replicated even that finding, let alone shown hair loss. This is the most famous example of a bad science game of telephone in fitness nutrition.

Last updated April 12, 2026 · 6 min read

If you search for "creatine hair loss," you'll get thousands of Reddit threads, TikTok videos, and hot-take YouTube essays all warning you that creatine might be making you go bald. They all, eventually, trace back to the same paper. So let's actually read the paper.

The 2009 study, in detail

The study is van der Merwe et al., "Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players," published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine.

The design: 20 college rugby players in South Africa were randomized to creatine or placebo. The creatine group took 25 g a day for 7 days (loading), then 5 g a day for 14 days (maintenance). At baseline, after loading, and after maintenance, researchers measured testosterone and DHT.

The finding: DHT went up about 40 percent during the loading phase, then came back down toward baseline during maintenance. Testosterone didn't change. The DHT-to-testosterone ratio also rose during loading.

What the study did not measure: actual hair. Not hair thickness, not follicle count, not scalp biopsies, not patient-reported hair loss. Not even self-reported shedding.

Why the study got picked up

DHT is the hormone that's causally linked to male pattern baldness. If you're genetically predisposed (specifically, if your hair follicles are sensitive to DHT), DHT causes miniaturization of follicles over years, leading to the classic pattern of thinning.

So if creatine raises DHT, the thinking goes, creatine might accelerate baldness in people who are predisposed. That's not a crazy inference. It's just not very well-supported.

The DHT finding in the 2009 study has never been replicated. Not once. Multiple follow-up studies have looked at creatine and sex hormones and found no consistent effect on DHT, testosterone, or the DHT-to-T ratio.

Why no one has just tested it directly

You'd think that in the 15 years since the 2009 study, someone would have run the obvious experiment: give a bunch of men creatine, track hair density over 2 years, compare to placebo. As far as I can find, no one has. The closest we have are observational studies with small sample sizes and short timelines, none of which showed a hair loss signal.

Part of the reason is that hair loss is slow. A rigorous study would need to run for 2 to 5 years. Part of it is that DHT is easy to measure and hair is hard to measure well. And part of it is that the fear got ahead of the science: a story that "creatine causes baldness" spreads much faster than a well-designed multi-year trial.

What actually causes male pattern baldness

The honest answer is genes. Specifically, variants in the androgen receptor gene on the X chromosome and a handful of other loci. If you have the genetic predisposition, your follicles are sensitive to DHT, and you will probably lose hair by your 40s regardless of diet, supplements, or lifestyle.

Things that actually move the needle on balding:

Things that almost certainly don't move the needle:

If you're worried about thinning, see a dermatologist. They can tell you whether what you're seeing is genetic pattern loss, telogen effluvium (stress/illness), or something else, and give you options that actually have data behind them.

What about anecdotes

"I started creatine and my hair started falling out" is a common forum post. It's also a textbook example of confounding. People often start creatine in their 20s, which is exactly when early male pattern baldness becomes visible in people who were going to lose hair anyway. The creatine didn't cause it. It coincided with it.

If creatine caused noticeable hair loss, given how many millions of people take it, we would see an obvious signal in the epidemiology. We don't. Major sports nutrition position stands (ISSN, ACSM) explicitly note there is no demonstrated link.

Practical advice

If you have a family history of male pattern baldness, you're going to lose hair. Finasteride and minoxidil are the interventions with evidence. Stopping creatine is not.

If you don't have a family history, the odds of creatine triggering hair loss in you are effectively zero based on current research.

If you've started creatine and noticed increased shedding, it's almost always either coincidence, telogen effluvium from stress, or genetic pattern loss you were already heading toward. Talk to a dermatologist. Don't give up a supplement with a massive upside for a small-sample hypothesis that has never been replicated.

Common questions

Does creatine actually cause hair loss?
The research does not support a direct link. The fear traces to one 2009 study in 20 rugby players that measured DHT, a hormone associated with male pattern baldness, not hair loss itself. No follow-up study has replicated even the DHT finding, and no study has ever directly measured hair loss in creatine users.
What was the 2009 creatine hair loss study?
A short trial in 20 college rugby players in South Africa. They took 25 g of creatine a day for 7 days, then 5 g a day for 14 days. DHT levels rose about 40 percent during loading, then dropped back to baseline during maintenance. The study did not measure hair, scalp health, or follicle density. It measured one hormone.
Should I stop taking creatine if I'm worried about hair loss?
If you're not genetically prone to male pattern baldness, there's no reason to stop. If you are genetically prone, you'll probably lose hair whether or not you take creatine, and creatine is not a major factor in that process based on the available evidence. Talk to a dermatologist if hair loss is already happening.
Are there studies that have directly tested creatine and hair loss?
Not well-designed ones. No published study has tracked hair density or scalp biopsies in creatine users over time. The whole debate is built on inference from a single hormone measurement in a 20-person trial.

Don't quit over a myth.

The research on creatine is clean. The research on hair loss from creatine is basically nonexistent. Stay consistent and let the app handle the reminding.

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