Busting Creatine Myths: Hair Loss
For a supplement that is so often recommended by experts, creatine can still raise a lot of concerns. But how many of those concerns actually stand up to scrutiny? In this mini-series, we examine the most common worries around creatine and separate assumptions from evidence.
The idea that creatine causes hair loss seems to come mainly from one small 2009 study in male rugby players. In that study, researchers found an increase in DHT after a short creatine loading phase [1].
Because DHT is linked to male pattern hair loss, it is easy to see how that result gave creatine a reputation for causing hair thinning. The important point, though, is that the study did not measure hair loss itself. It only measured a hormone that is relevant to one particular type of hair-loss pathway [1].
That distinction matters even more for women.
While DHT is a well-established part of male pattern hair loss, female pattern hair loss is more complex, and many women affected by it have normal androgen levels [2].
In other words, the relationship between DHT and hair loss is much less straightforward in women than it is in men.
On top of that, the wider creatine literature has not supported the idea that creatine causes hair loss: a 2021 review found no good evidence that creatine raises DHT in a meaningful way or causes hair loss, and a 2025 randomised controlled trial found no significant differences in DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, or hair-growth measures between creatine and placebo [3, 4].
References
[1] 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.
[2] Fabbrocini G, Cantelli M, Masarà A, Annunziata MC, Marasca C, Cacciapuoti S. Female pattern hair loss: a clinical, pathophysiologic, and therapeutic review. International Journal of Women’s Dermatology. 2018;4(4):203–211.
[3] Antonio J, Candow DG, Forbes SC, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2021;18:13.
[4] Lak M, Gentles JA, Gilmore R, et al. Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized controlled trial. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2025.