If you use creatine and simultaneously pay attention to your hairline, you've probably encountered this discussion sooner or later. On Reddit, at the gym, in weight training Facebook groups: creatine is said to increase your DHT and thereby accelerate hair loss. For men who are already concerned about their hair, that's 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 investigated. Until recently. In 2025, the first study appeared that actually examined it, not only in blood values but also in your hair itself. The outcome is clearer than you might expect.
Why DHT is the link here
DHT (dihydrotestosterone) is the hormone that drives hereditary hair loss in most men. It gradually shrinks sensitive hair follicles, causing hair to thin and eventually stop growing. Anything that increases your DHT quickly sounds suspicious if you're concerned about your hair. Creatine ended up in that list due to one specific study, and that study has since been widely amplified without the context being told.
Where the rumor comes from
It starts with a 2009 study by researcher Van der Merwe and colleagues. Twenty rugby-playing students received 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.
That's the figure that has since reappeared in almost every forum discussion and YouTube video. What's usually missing: that study never looked at hair. No photos of the hairline, no hair density counts, no scalp examination. The only thing measured was 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 didn't happen. Of the studies conducted since then on creatine and androgenic hormones, 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 doesn't automatically mean that the 2009 study was wrong. A group of twenty participants is small, and hormones like DHT naturally fluctuate significantly, even without supplements. But it does mean that you cannot simply treat one small 2009 study as a fixed fact, which is exactly what happens in many online discussions.
The first study that actually looked at hair follicles
In April 2025, a study that finally directly addressed the problem, conducted by Lak and colleagues, appeared in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Researchers followed 45 men between the ages of 18 and 40 who had been 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 blood was taken, but also hair density, the number of hair follicles, and hair thickness were measured with a trichogram and a FotoFinder system, equipment dermatologists use to objectively visualize hair growth. Of the 45 participants, 38 completed the full twelve-week program.
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 increase in both groups over time, but that had nothing to do with creatine, because it happened just as much in the placebo group. Free testosterone actually decreased slightly, also equally in both groups.
This is the first time researchers have actually looked at the hair follicle instead of just a blood tube. And nothing came out that indicated 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. This also applies if you are already sensitive to hereditary hair loss. That sensitivity 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 currently available, the fear that creatine makes you bald is not found in the data. The only study that showed something different never actually measured hair, and has not been replicated since.
The question remains how the rumor became so persistent. Part of the explanation is simple: many men start creatine around the same age when hereditary hair loss first appears, somewhere between twenty and thirty. Anyone who then notices hair loss quickly connects it to what they are doing at that moment, and creatine is then an obvious suspect, even if it is a coincidence.
Coincidence simply sells less well as an explanation than a culprit with a name.
It also pays to look at what type of creatine has been studied. Almost all research, including the 2025 study, concerns creatine monohydrate, by far the most used and best-researched 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 these forms will turn out worse, but the reassuring data available now specifically concerns monohydrate in the common dosage.
If you are already noticing hair loss
If you do notice that your hairline is changing or that your crown is thinning, it almost certainly has a different cause than your creatine use. In most men, hereditary hair loss is the reason, where hair follicles slowly become more sensitive to DHT. The sooner you do something about it, the more hair you will keep.
A Hairborn Growth Serum is then a logical first step if you don't want to use medication yet. The serum does not affect DHT through your hormones, but directly supports the hair follicle. You don't have to stop using creatine for it. That's not where your problem lies.
Frequently asked questions
Can the 2025 study be trusted because it's in a peer-reviewed journal?
Publication in a peer-reviewed journal such as the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition means that the research was reviewed by independent experts before publication, which increases its reliability compared to uncontrolled sources like forum posts.
Why was the 2009 study so frequently cited?
Probably because it was the first and at the time only study that showed a link between creatine and DHT, making it 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's not something you can do yourself at home. For a similar, less precise picture, you can take monthly photos yourself in the same spot and in the same light.
Is there a difference between beginners and experienced athletes with creatine?
The 2025 study did not make a separate distinction between beginners and experienced strength athletes in the results; all participants had at least one 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. If in doubt, consult a doctor, especially with multiple combined medications.
Why did free testosterone slightly decrease in both groups?
The researchers observed this slight decrease in both the creatine and placebo groups, indicating that it was not an effect of creatine itself, but possibly related to other factors such as the training period.
Can years of use still yield a different result than twelve weeks?
There is currently no research that has specifically tested longer usage periods for hair loss, so a longer study could provide additional certainty, although there is no concrete indication of a different result now.
Can you measure with a trichogram yourself at home?
No, a trichogram requires specialized equipment and expertise from a dermatologist to properly assess hair cycle phases; this is not something you can do 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 was the DHT increase from 2009 not reproducible?
This has not been determined with certainty, but a small participant group and the natural fluctuation of hormone levels are often cited as possible explanations why a single finding does not always turn out to be reproducible.
