Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss? The 2009 Study, and What Came After

One trial has measured hair directly. It ran for twelve weeks, gave one group 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day and the other a matched placebo, and checked hair at the crown with a trichogram and a FotoFinder imaging system, read by board-certified dermatologists. It found no difference between the groups on hair count, hair density, growth-phase percentage, resting-phase percentage, follicular units, terminal hair rate, vellus hair rate, or cumulative thickness.[2]

That is one study of 37 men. It is the best evidence there is, and it is still one study of 37 men. We are not going to tell you the question is closed.

We sell creatine monohydrate, which is the form and the dose that trial used, so read the rest of this knowing that. The fear itself has a specific source, and it is worth knowing what that source actually did.

Researchers at a rugby institute in South Africa gave twenty college-aged players creatine or a placebo during their competitive season, then swapped the groups after a six-week washout. They drew blood at the start, at seven days and at twenty-one days.[1]

Testosterone did not change. DHT rose 56 percent after the seven-day loading phase and was still 40 percent above baseline two weeks later. The ratio of DHT to testosterone rose 36 percent, then settled 22 percent above where it started.[1]

Those numbers are real and the study is a good one. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover with a washout is a solid design. What it did not do is look at anybody’s hair. The paper lists its outcome measures plainly: serum testosterone, serum DHT, the ratio between them, and body composition. Hair is not among them.[1]

The body converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone using an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. DHT binds to androgen receptors more strongly than testosterone does. In people who are genetically susceptible, it binds to receptors in hair follicles on the scalp and those follicles shrink over time. That is the accepted mechanism behind androgenetic alopecia, and the 2025 trial cites the dermatology literature for it rather than disputing it.[2]

So the chain of reasoning behind the worry is not silly. It goes: creatine raised DHT in one study, DHT is linked to pattern baldness, therefore creatine might cause baldness.

The weak link is the word therefore. A hormone moving inside a blood sample is not the same event as a follicle shrinking on a scalp, and until 2025 nobody had checked whether the first one produced the second.

In 2025, researchers ran a twelve-week randomized controlled trial in resistance-trained men aged 18 to 40. Forty-five were recruited and thirty-eight finished, nineteen in each group. One of those thirty-eight had incomplete hair data, so every hair result on this page rests on thirty-seven men. One group took 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day, the other took 5 g of maltodextrin. Neither the participants nor the researchers analyzing the data knew who was in which group.[2]

They measured blood hormones, and they measured hair. No difference appeared between the groups on any hormone, and no difference appeared on any of the eight hair measures. Testosterone and free testosterone did shift over the twelve weeks, but they shifted in both groups equally, which means it was not the creatine.[2]

Shedding is hair leaving your head. Everyone sheds. A trichogram counts what proportion of your hairs are in the growing phase against the resting phase, and a shift toward resting means more shedding is coming.

Thinning is individual hairs getting finer. That shows up as a change in cumulative thickness or in the ratio of terminal hairs to vellus hairs, the short fine ones. You can thin without shedding more, and the mirror will show it before a hairbrush does.

Androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness, is the progressive condition where follicles shrink under androgen exposure in a characteristic pattern. It is a diagnosis, not a description, and a dermatologist makes it.

The 2025 trial measured all three families of outcome and found nothing on any of them.[2] That is worth more than a single headline number, because a study that only counted hairs could miss thinning entirely.

The 2025 trial excluded anyone who had used finasteride or minoxidil, anyone who had a hair transplant, and anyone with a diagnosed scalp condition. It also did not record whether participants had a family history of hair loss. The authors name that as a limitation themselves, and they cite research reporting that men whose fathers lost their hair are about twice as likely to lose theirs.[2][4]

So the trial tells you about men who were not already losing their hair. If you are, the honest answer is that this study was not designed to answer your question, and no study we found was.

That is a question for a dermatologist, who can look at your scalp and your family history together. We are not going to tell you to start or stop anything.

It cannot tell you about women. The 2025 trial enrolled men only, because DHT is tied to male pattern baldness. The authors say female research is still needed.[2]

It cannot tell you about years. Twelve weeks is twelve weeks. Hair loss happens over decades, and the authors say a longer or higher-dose study could read differently.[2]

It cannot tell you about loading. The 2025 trial used no loading phase. The 2009 DHT spike happened during one. Nobody has run a long trial that includes a loading week.[1][2]

It cannot tell you what one unread letter says. Source 3 is a published comment on the 2009 study with a reply from its authors, and both are paywalled.[3]

Promix Non-GMO Creatine is micronized creatine monohydrate and nothing else. One scoop is 5 grams, which is the dose the 2025 trial used. The label lists no other ingredients, no allergens, and no sweeteners.