MK-677 for Hair Growth: What the Science Says (Plus a 4-Month Experiment)

Does MK-677 help hair growth? It has never been tested for hair in a human study. The idea rests on IGF-1: MK-677 raises IGF-1 by 40% or more, and lab and animal studies show IGF-1 supports hair follicle growth. Whether that translates into thicker hair on your head is unknown. We also found no study linking MK-677 to hair loss, although products stacked with SARMs or spiked with hormones are a different matter.

MK-677 is used for many things people hope will improve: appetite, sleep, skin and muscle. This page separates what the science shows about MK-677 and hair from what is anecdote, and keeps the original author’s four-month experiment. For the compound itself, see our MK-677 (ibutamoren) review.

What is MK-677?

MK-677 (ibutamoren) is an oral growth hormone secretagogue: it copies the hormone ghrelin, which makes the pituitary release more growth hormone (GH), and GH raises IGF-1 (FDA 2024). It is not a SARM and does not act on the androgen receptor. In a 563-patient trial, 25 mg/day raised IGF-1 by 60.1% at 6 weeks and 72.9% at 12 months (Sevigny 2008).

It also raised blood markers of collagen turnover: in obese men, two procollagen markers rose 23% and 28% within two weeks (Svensson 1998). Those are markers of bone and connective-tissue turnover measured in blood, not a measure of collagen in hair or skin. An older version of this page described this as “increased collagen levels by 26%”, which overstated what was measured.

The science of IGF-1 and hair growth

There is a real biological link between IGF-1 and hair follicles. The evidence comes from cell, animal and clinical-observation studies, not from trials of MK-677:

Put together: IGF-1 matters for hair follicles, and DHT appears to work against it. What nobody has shown is that raising IGF-1 with MK-677 regrows or thickens scalp hair in people. A search of PubMed (30 October 2026) found no human study of MK-677 or ibutamoren and hair growth or hair loss. Growth hormone itself had no effect on cultured hair follicles in the 1994 lab study (Philpott 1994).

Does MK-677 cause hair loss?

There is no evidence that it does:

• No trial reported it. Hair loss does not appear in the side-effect data from MK-677 trials summarized by the FDA (FDA 2024).
• It doesn’t act like an androgen. MK-677 doesn’t work on the androgen receptor, and in the one trial that measured it, the free testosterone index, LH and FSH did not change (Svensson 1999).

So why do people report shedding on MK-677? The likelier explanations are things taken alongside it. SARMs act on the androgen receptor, the receptor DHT also uses; our SARMs and hair loss page covers that evidence. Products sold as MK-677 have also been found to contain undeclared testosterone (Chong 2024), and 25% of products sold online as SARMs contained unlisted substances (Van Wagoner 2017).

Four-month MK-677 hair experiment

Editor’s note: this is the original author’s personal account from the earlier version of this page, kept largely as written. It is one person’s experience without photos or measurements we could check, and it is not a recommendation to take MK-677 or any dose.

To give you a bit of a background on myself: I was very blessed through all my years of SARMs usage, I never had problem with hair thinning or shedding, even though I’ve been using SARMs on and off for about seven years.

However, now that I’m approaching my late 30’s, I’m starting to notice some hair thinning, especially on the sides and near my forehead.

My hair is also starting to become more oily as I age, I’m not exactly sure why as I didn’t change my hair routine in any way.

Overall, I’m pretty content with my hairline, although I’m noticing chinks in my armor.

I used a 15mg dosage of MK-677 every day, before going to sleep.

I tolerate MK-677 quite well and I’ve used it before so I knew what to expect.

Anyways, I didn’t notice anything for the first two weeks. Good thing I wasn’t expecting anything or else I would’ve been sorely disappointed.

To anyone reading this, hair growth is a very gradual process, anyone promising you immediate results is simply lying to you.

A month in and I still wasn’t having any results. To be fair, I was starting to feel a bit frustrated but I knew I had to bide my time.

Another month had passed, I was now two months in and I finally started noticing the first effects; my hair wasn’t as oily and when I looked at my sides, I felt like they were fuller than before!

The next month I did a blood sugar test and when the results came in, I was pleased: 4,9mmol/L, a near-perfect reading.

I didn’t notice any noticeable differences between month two and three but I knew I had to continue on with my experiment.

Month four was great; my hair was thicker, fuller and looking at the pictures before, I could see a difference!

For the next few weeks, my hair kept its thickness, even my forehead felt more covered.

MK-677 hair growth: what to expect

If hair is the goal, the side effects still apply: higher blood sugar, swelling, appetite and, in frail patients, a heart-failure signal (FDA 2024). See MK-677 side effects. For peptides people use for hair, see peptides for hair growth.

Where to buy MK-677

Quality is a real issue: only 41% of 44 products sold online as SARMs contained the amount on the label (Van Wagoner 2017). Whatever the source, look for a batch-specific certificate of analysis from an independent lab. Sarmguide’s current partner shop is SwissChems; our SwissChems review explains why.

Conclusion

The case for MK-677 and hair growth is a chain of reasonable steps that has never been tested end to end: MK-677 raises IGF-1, and IGF-1 helps hair follicles in the lab. There are no human studies of MK-677 for hair, and no evidence that it causes hair loss on its own. The four-month experiment above is one person’s account. If you try anything for thinning hair, judge it over months, with the same photos and lighting, and keep in mind what else is in your stack.