If you use creatine and are keeping an eye on your hairline at the same time, you have sooner or later come across this discussion. On Reddit, in the gym, in strength training Facebook groups: creatine is said to increase your DHT and thereby accelerate your hair loss. For men who are already doubting their hair, that is not a pleasant prospect. You want to get stronger, not go bald faster.
The strange thing is that this rumor has been circulating for about fifteen years without being properly examined. Until recently. In 2025, the first study appeared that actually investigated it, not just in blood values but in your hair itself. The outcome is clearer than you would expect.
Why DHT is the link here
DHT (dihydrotestosterone) is the hormone that is the driver of hereditary hair loss in most men. It gradually shrinks sensitive hair follicles, causing hairs to become thinner and eventually stop growing. Anything that increases your DHT therefore quickly sounds suspicious if you are concerned about your hair. Creatine ended up in that list due to one specific study, and that study has been widely exaggerated ever since without the context being included.
Where the rumor comes from
It starts with a 2009 study by researcher Van der Merwe and colleagues. Twenty students who played rugby were given creatine for three weeks: a loading week of 25 grams per day, followed by two weeks of 5 grams per day. After the loading week, their DHT was on average 56 percent higher than at the start. After the maintenance phase, it was still about 40 percent above the baseline value.
That is the figure that has appeared in almost every forum discussion and YouTube video ever since. What is usually missing: that study never looked at hair. No photos of the hairline, no counts of hair density, no inspection of the scalp. The only things measured were hormone levels in the blood. The leap to "therefore it causes hair loss" is an assumption that the researchers themselves never made and that no one has tested since, until 2025.
What happened after 2009
You would expect such a striking result to be quickly confirmed by other research. That did not happen. Of the studies that have been conducted on creatine and androgenic hormones since then, none could replicate the DHT increase from 2009. In eleven follow-up studies, the values remained within the normal range, even with comparable dosages and comparable groups of athletes.
That does not automatically mean that the 2009 study was wrong. A group of twenty participants is small, and hormones like DHT fluctuate significantly by nature, even without supplements. But it does mean that you cannot simply treat one small study from 2009 as an established fact, while that is exactly what happens in many online discussions.
The first study that actually looked at hair follicles
In April 2025, a study that finally tackled the problem directly, conducted by Lak and colleagues, appeared in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Researchers followed 45 men between 18 and 40 years old who had already been doing strength training for at least a year. One half received 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day, the other half the same amount of maltodextrin as a placebo. Double-blind, so no one knew who received what, not even the researchers until after the analysis.
After twelve weeks, not only was blood drawn, but hair density, the number of hair follicles, and the thickness of the hair were measured using a trichogram and a FotoFinder system, equipment that dermatologists use to objectively visualize hair growth. Of the 45 participants, 38 completed the full twelve-week trajectory.
The outcome: no difference between the creatine group and the placebo group. Not in DHT, not in the ratio between DHT and testosterone, and not in any of the hair measurements. Total testosterone did rise in both groups over time, but that had nothing to do with the creatine, because it happened just as much in the placebo group. Free testosterone actually decreased slightly, also equally in both groups.
It is the first time that researchers actually looked into the hair follicle instead of just into a blood vial. And nothing came out of that which points to more hair loss due to creatine.
What this means for you
At the common dosage of 3 to 5 grams per day, there is currently no evidence that creatine causes or accelerates your hair loss. That also applies if you are already susceptible to hereditary hair loss. That susceptibility lies in how your hair follicles themselves react to DHT, not in how much creatine you put in your shaker.
Twelve weeks is relatively short for a supplement that people often use for years, so more research over a longer period would not hurt. But based on what is available now, the fear that creatine makes you bald cannot be found in the data. The only study that showed something different never actually measured hair and has not been repeated since.
The question remains how the rumor has become so persistent. Part of the explanation is simple: many men start with creatine around the same age that hereditary hair loss first shows itself, somewhere between twenty and thirty. Anyone who then notices hair loss quickly makes the connection with what they are doing at that moment, and creatine is then an obvious suspect, even if it is a coincidence.
Coincidence just sells less well as an explanation than a culprit with a name.
It also pays to look at which type of creatine has been studied. Almost all research, including the 2025 study, concerns creatine monohydrate, by far the most widely used and best-studied form. More expensive variants such as creatine ethyl ester or creatine HCL have never been specifically tested for DHT or hair loss. There is no reason to assume that those forms turn out worse, but the reassuring data available now relates specifically to monohydrate in the common dosage.
If you already notice hair loss
If you do notice your hairline changing or your crown thinning, that almost certainly has a different cause than your creatine use. For most men, hereditary hair loss is the reason, where hair follicles slowly become more sensitive to DHT. The sooner you do something about that, the more hair you will have left.
A Hairborn Growth Serum is then a logical first step if you do not yet want to use medication. The serum does not target DHT via your hormones, but supports the hair follicle directly. You do not have to stop taking your creatine for it. That is not where your problem lies.
Frequently asked questions
Can you trust the 2025 study because it is in a professional journal?
The publication in a peer-reviewed professional journal such as the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition means that the research was assessed by independent experts before it was published, which increases the reliability compared to non-verified sources such as forum posts.
Why was the 2009 study cited so often?
Probably because it was the first and at the time the only study that showed a link between creatine and DHT, which caused it to be cited as the sole reference point for years, even though it lacked any measurement of actual hair loss.
Can you have a FotoFinder measurement done yourself?
A FotoFinder system is specialized equipment mainly used by dermatologists; it is not something you can perform yourself at home. For a similar, less precise image, you can take photos yourself monthly in the same spot and in the same light.
Is there a difference between beginners and experienced athletes regarding creatine?
The 2025 study made no separate distinction between beginners and experienced strength athletes in the results; all participants already had at least a year of training experience.
Can you use creatine if you are already taking finasteride?
There is no known interaction between creatine and finasteride, as the 2025 study found no effect of creatine on DHT or hair loss. In case of doubt, consult a doctor, especially when using multiple combined agents.
Why did free testosterone decrease slightly in both groups?
The researchers observed this slight decrease in both the creatine and the placebo group, which indicates that it was not an effect of the creatine itself, but possibly related to other factors such as the training period.
Can years of use still produce a different result than twelve weeks?
There is currently no research that has specifically tested longer periods of use for hair loss, so a longer study could provide additional certainty, although there is no concrete indication for a different result at this time.
Can you measure it yourself at home with a trichogram?
No, a trichogram requires specialized equipment and expertise from a dermatologist to properly assess the hair cycle phases; this is not something you can carry out yourself at home.
Is there research on creatine and hair loss in women?
No, the known studies on creatine and DHT or hair loss, including the 2025 study, were conducted on men.
Why did the DHT increase from 2009 not remain reproducible?
That has not been determined with certainty, but a small participant group and the natural fluctuation of hormone levels are often cited as possible explanations for why a result found only once does not always prove to be repeatable.
