The question “does creatine cause hair loss” has a more reassuring answer than the early headlines suggested: a randomized trial that measured hair directly found no significant difference between creatine and placebo over 12 weeks. That is useful evidence against a short-term effect, but it does not settle the question for people with pattern hair loss or for use over many years.
Why Creatine And Hair Loss Became Linked
The concern traces largely to a small 2009 study of young male athletes. After three weeks of creatine supplementation, the researchers reported increased conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), potentially raising DHT levels. DHT is associated with male pattern hair loss, particularly in people whose hair follicles are sensitive to it.
But the study measured hormones—not hair shedding, hair density, or follicle changes. A DHT result can raise a question worth testing; by itself, it does not show that a supplement caused hair loss. The reported hormone finding also did not establish what would happen to hair over time.
Does Creatine Cause Hair Loss? What The Trial Measured
In 2025, Mohammadyasin Lak and colleagues published a randomized, double-blind trial in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. The author team included researchers affiliated with Iran’s Sport Sciences Research Institute and Tehran-based branches of Islamic Azad University. The study report does not establish a separate trial location.
Researchers recruited 45 resistance-trained men aged 18 to 40; 38 completed the study. Participants took either 5 grams (about 0.18 ounces) of creatine monohydrate daily or a maltodextrin placebo for 12 weeks, while keeping their usual diets and training. Blood tests measured testosterone and DHT. Hair assessments measured density, follicular-unit count, and cumulative hair thickness, alongside a trichogram test.
The researchers found no significant differences between the groups in DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or any of the measured hair outcomes. Changes in testosterone over the study period were not specific to creatine. Because this trial measured hair as well as hormones, it addresses the concern more directly than the 2009 study did. It found no detectable short-term effect in the participants studied; it cannot prove that no individual could ever experience one.
What The Results Can—and Can’t—Tell You
The trial offers some reassurance about daily creatine monohydrate use over 12 weeks for healthy, resistance-trained men aged 18 to 40. It does not answer whether the same result applies to women or other age groups, or what happens with longer-term use. Participants using hair-loss medicines such as finasteride or minoxidil were excluded, and the study was not designed to determine whether people already experiencing pattern hair loss respond differently.
That gap matters if you are genetically prone to pattern hair loss or already noticing thinning. The trial did not show that creatine triggers hair loss in those people—but it also cannot rule out a different response in a more susceptible group. The earlier DHT concern makes the question understandable, yet a hormone change alone would not establish that hair loss follows.
How To Use This When Making A Decision
If you are deciding whether to take creatine, current direct evidence does not show increased hair loss over 12 weeks at the studied dose in the men who took part. If protecting your hair is a particular concern because you have a family history or ongoing thinning, you may weigh that uncertainty differently; the trial cannot give you a personalized risk estimate.
If you notice persistent or sudden hair shedding, speak with a clinician or dermatologist rather than assuming creatine is the cause. They can help assess the pattern and possible causes. For now, the clearest takeaway is that the original alarm came from a hormone measurement, while the later trial measured hair and found no significant difference from placebo—within important limits.
