A note on this article: Creatine has been discontinued from the Proco range — the current lineup is Cognitive Support, Sleep Support, Sleep Formula, Omega-3 and Magnesium Glycinate. We're keeping the research below live because it's still accurate and useful — you just won't find Creatine in our shop.
If you've spent any time in a gym forum or comment section, you've seen it: "creatine causes hair loss." It's one of the most repeated claims in sports nutrition, and it's repeated with total confidence — usually by people who have never read the study behind it.
Here's the short answer: there is no direct evidence that creatine supplementation causes hair loss. The claim traces almost entirely to one small 2009 study that measured a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in college rugby players — it never measured hair, hair counts, or hair shedding at all. A 2025 randomized controlled trial that actually did measure hair follicle health found no effect. That doesn't mean the question is completely closed, but it means the popular version of the claim is overstated.
Below, we walk through exactly what the original study found, why DHT matters for hair in the first place, what the newer trial changed, and what the broader safety literature on creatine actually says.
Where the "creatine causes hair loss" claim actually comes from
The claim rests almost entirely on a single study: a 2009 crossover trial published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine (volume 19, issue 5, pages 399–404), which recruited 20 college-aged male rugby players — 16 of whom completed the protocol — and gave them a standard creatine loading regimen of 25 g/day for 7 days followed by a 5 g/day maintenance dose for 14 days.1
Correction, September 2026: An earlier version of this article said the 2009 study appeared in the International Journal of Sports Medicine and was "later summarized in" the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. That was wrong: it was published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 2009;19(5):399–404. The same version gave the sample as 20 throughout; 20 were recruited and 16 completed the protocol. Neither error changes the article's conclusion, but a study this widely quoted deserves to be cited accurately.
The researchers measured blood testosterone and DHT before and after supplementation. Total testosterone didn't change significantly. But DHT rose by roughly 56% after the loading week and stayed about 40% above baseline through the two-week maintenance phase, while the DHT-to-testosterone ratio rose 36% after loading and remained about 22% above baseline at the end of maintenance.1 Worth noting on the other side of the ledger: the DHT values stayed inside normal clinical reference ranges throughout, and no subsequent study has reproduced the finding. That result got picked up, repeated, and eventually flattened into the shorthand "creatine raises DHT, DHT causes hair loss, therefore creatine causes hair loss."
The problem with that shorthand is what the study didn't do. It didn't examine anyone's scalp. It didn't count hairs, measure hair density, or track shedding. It measured one hormone in blood serum over three weeks in the 16 young men who completed it — most of whom, notably, were not showing any signs of hair loss to begin with. Extrapolating from a short-term hormone shift to an actual clinical outcome like balding is a significant leap the data doesn't support on its own.
56%
The rise in serum DHT researchers measured after one week of creatine loading in the 2009 rugby player study — the single data point the entire "creatine causes hair loss" claim is built on. Values stayed within normal clinical reference ranges, and 16 men completed the protocol.1
This is a recurring shape in creatine folklore: a real measurement, stretched into a claim the measurement can't carry. The kidney scare works the same way (a rise in serum creatinine mistaken for kidney damage) — see creatine and kidney safety — as do the dehydration and bloating claims, covered in does creatine actually dehydrate you? and does creatine cause bloating or water retention?
DHT is real for hair loss — but elevated DHT isn't the same as documented hair loss
To be clear, DHT itself isn't a myth. It's the androgen most directly implicated in androgenetic alopecia, the technical name for male and female pattern baldness. In genetically susceptible hair follicles, DHT binds androgen receptors more strongly than testosterone does, and over time this drives a process called follicular miniaturization — each growth cycle produces a thinner, shorter hair until some follicles stop producing visible hair altogether.2 This is also the mechanism that drugs like finasteride target, since finasteride works by blocking the enzyme (5-alpha-reductase) that converts testosterone into DHT.
But whether that mechanism actually plays out as visible hair loss depends heavily on genetics — specifically, androgen receptor sensitivity in scalp follicles, which is inherited. Two people can have similar circulating DHT levels and have completely different outcomes: one loses hair, one doesn't, because their follicles respond differently to the same hormone.2 That's the missing piece in the creatine narrative — a temporary, modest rise in circulating DHT is not automatically equivalent to accelerated balding, especially in someone without the underlying genetic susceptibility.
A newer study actually tested hair — and found nothing
For over 15 years, the 2009 DHT study was the only data point anyone had, direct or indirect. That changed in 2025, when a randomized, placebo-controlled trial set out specifically to answer the hair-loss question rather than just measure hormones. Researchers randomised 45 healthy resistance-trained men aged 18–40 to either 5 g/day of creatine monohydrate or a maltodextrin placebo for 12 weeks, and this time they measured actual hair follicle health — hair count and density, follicular unit count, hair thickness and growth phases, using the trichogram test and FotoFinder digital imaging — alongside total testosterone, free testosterone and DHT.3
The result: total testosterone rose slightly and free testosterone fell slightly, but identically in both arms; DHT was unchanged between groups; and across every hair metric — count, density, thickness, growth phase, follicular unit count — there were no significant differences between creatine and placebo. The authors describe it as the first study to directly assess follicle health after creatine supplementation, and conclude it provides evidence against the idea that creatine supplementation drives hair loss.3 It's a single trial with a modest sample, so it isn't the final word either — and it studied healthy men aged 18 to 40 over 12 weeks, which is not the same as studying men with established pattern baldness over years. But it's a meaningfully stronger piece of evidence than the 2009 hormone-only study, because it's the first time anyone actually looked at hair instead of inferring from a blood marker.
StudyWhat it measuredWhat it found2009, rugby players (20 recruited, 16 completed)1Serum DHT and testosterone onlyDHT rose ~56% after loading, DHT:T ratio ~36%; values stayed in normal range; no hair outcomes assessed2025 RCT (n=45 randomised)3Hormones plus hair density, follicle count, hair thicknessNo significant change in DHT, testosterone, or any hair metric
What the broader safety literature says
Creatine monohydrate is one of the most extensively studied supplements in existence, with decades of research behind it. The 2017 position stand from the International Society of Sports Nutrition reviewed that body of evidence — including studies using doses far above what most people take, sustained for years — and concluded that short- and long-term creatine supplementation (up to 30 g/day for up to 5 years in some of the reviewed data) is safe and well-tolerated in healthy individuals and across a range of patient populations.4 The position stand doesn't list hair loss among the studied outcomes or established side effects. That's not the same as proof it's impossible — and absence from a review is weaker evidence than a trial designed to look — but if creatine supplementation were causing hair loss at any meaningful rate, it's the kind of adverse effect this many years of research would be expected to have already picked up more clearly than a single small hormone study from 2009.
A temporary rise in a hormone is not the same thing as documented hair loss — and the only study built to test the second question found nothing.
One practical note if the loading phase is what worries you: you don't need one. A flat 3–5 g daily dose reaches the same muscle saturation, just more slowly — see do you actually need a creatine loading phase? The 2009 study's DHT rise was measured during a 25 g/day loading week, which is not what most people do.
Who should actually be cautious
None of this means DHT sensitivity is irrelevant to you personally. If you already have a strong family history of early-onset pattern baldness, or you're already noticing hair thinning, it's reasonable to be more attentive to any factor that could nudge androgen activity — creatine included, even though the direct evidence against it is thin. This isn't a reason to panic or avoid creatine altogether; it's a reason to have an informed conversation. If you're concerned, mention your family history and creatine use to a doctor or dermatologist — they can discuss your individual risk and monitor if needed, rather than relying on internet folklore in either direction.
For most people without that genetic backdrop, the current evidence doesn't support skipping a supplement with as much documented performance and (per the emerging, still-unsettled research) cognitive-support evidence as creatine monohydrate over a hair-loss concern built on one hormone reading from a study of 16 completers. What that cognitive evidence does and doesn't show is set out in creatine and the brain.
Key takeaway: The "creatine causes hair loss" claim comes from one small 2009 study that found elevated DHT in rugby players — it never measured actual hair loss, and the values stayed within normal reference ranges. A 2025 randomized trial that did measure hair follicle health found no effect from creatine on DHT, testosterone, or hair density. If you have a strong genetic history of pattern baldness, mention your creatine use to a doctor; otherwise, the current evidence doesn't support avoiding it on hair-loss grounds.
Bottom line
The creatine-hair-loss myth is a real hormone finding stretched into a claim the original data never supported. One study found a temporary DHT increase; it did not find hair loss. The one study designed specifically to look for hair loss didn't find it either. If you're using creatine monohydrate for strength, recovery, or cognitive performance, the current evidence doesn't give you a reason to stop over this particular concern — though anyone with a strong family history of early balding is reasonable to raise it with a doctor as part of routine due diligence.
This article is for informational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the FDA. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Speak with a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement, especially if you take medication or have an existing health condition.
References
- van der Merwe J, Brooks NE, Myburgh KH. Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2009;19(5):399-404. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- "Androgenetic Alopecia." StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf, National Institutes of Health. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- "Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Kreider, R.B., et al. "International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine." Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2017. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- "Does creatine cause hair loss?" Examine.com. examine.com
Related reading: Creatine Monohydrate: The Complete Guide and Creatine and Kidney Safety: What the Long-Term Data Actually Shows.
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