Some users of creatine will experience an increase in acne, but it isn’t actually the creatine that’s causing it. I’ll explain – and give scientific facts about – what’s really going on and which creatine products and practices acne suffers would be better off staying away from.

Creatine in and of itself, does not cause acne. There are no studies to show this at the time of writing. However, as mentioned, some people who use creatine will experience an increase in acne, and there are several reasons why this may be happening, and it may be that you can stop it from happening and continue to use creatine.

People mostly suffer from acne for hormonal reasons, but it can be exasperated by certain things the individual does. Common exasperating factors for acne are dehydration and increases in insulin and growth hormones such as IGF-1.

Creatine can indirectly cause a person to be less hydrated than they would normally be because it increases anaerobic energy and strength levels. This means a person is capable of working out harder and for longer. The more exercise you do relative to the amount of water you take on board, the more dehydrated you become. If you suspect this may be what’s happening to you, you can simply make a point of drinking more water and seeing if your acne reduces.

Lots of people who take creatine do so with lots of sugar and other carbs. If you have increased your sugar and carb intake, it’s very likely that it’s the sugars and carbs that’re to blame. Insulin is a precursor to many hormones in your body, especially various growth hormones, and anabolic hormones like insulin and Insuling-like Growth Factors 1 can cause a buildup of sebum within the skin which clogs the pores, causing greasy skin and an increase in acne. If you think this may be the problem, simply use your creatine with water and reduce your sugar and carbs intake back to pre-creatine levels.

It may be that your creatine supplement contains sugars or carbs itself, or it may be that you’ve started taking another new supplement at the same time that contains a lot of carbs or sugars and you wrongly suspect it’s the creatine.

Consider the factors discussed (they may even both contribute to acne) and the workarounds offers before shunning the idea of using creatine because it’s almost certain at this point that creatine does not and can not directly cause acne.