The short answer: current evidence does not support it. The longer answer is worth understanding, because the myth comes from a single study that never actually measured hair.
Where the fear comes from
The concern traces back to one small study in 2009. A group of college rugby players took creatine, and researchers measured a rise in DHT, a hormone linked to male pattern baldness. That is the entire origin of the idea.
Two things about that study get left out every time it is cited. It never measured hair. It measured a hormone associated with hair loss, then people assumed the rest. And it used a high loading dose over a short period, not the standard amount most people take.
From that single indirect finding, an entire myth was built and repeated for over a decade.
What the newest research actually found
In 2025, researchers ran the study that should have been done in the first place. A 12-week randomized controlled trial followed resistance-trained men taking 5 grams of creatine per day, and for the first time directly measured hair follicle health alongside hormone levels.
They measured DHT, the DHT-to-testosterone ratio, hair density, follicle counts, and hair thickness. Across all of it, there were no significant differences between the men taking creatine and the men taking a placebo. The researchers described it as strong evidence against the claim that creatine contributes to hair loss.
This was the first study to look directly at the thing everyone was actually worried about, rather than measuring a hormone and guessing.
The honest limitations
Good information includes what a study cannot tell you. This one ran for 12 weeks, which is not years. It did not screen participants for a genetic predisposition to baldness. And it measured DHT in the blood rather than at the scalp, where androgenetic alopecia actually happens.
So the accurate statement is not "creatine has been proven completely safe for every person's hair forever." The accurate statement is that the best available direct evidence shows no effect, and the one study people fear never measured hair at all.
What this means in practice
If you were avoiding creatine specifically because of hair loss, that fear is built on weaker ground than the reassurance is. One of the most researched supplements in existence has now been examined directly for this exact concern, and the concern did not hold up.
If you already have a genetic predisposition to hair loss, that predisposition exists regardless of whether you take creatine. If it matters to you, the useful move is speaking to a dermatologist about your actual risk factors, not avoiding a supplement based on a study that measured the wrong thing.
The science can change. More research over longer periods would strengthen the picture. But right now, the evidence points one direction, and it is not the direction the myth assumed.
Read About Creatine and the Brain.