Private moments shared with your better half don’t generally get people talking. But in the heat of the moment, a little too much pressure and you’re left with a mark that’s bound to turn a few heads. Whilst hickeys or ‘love bites’ are often a rite of passage in our youth, as we age they can be seen as unsightly and even a little embarrassing.
If you need to know how to get rid of or hide hickeys, read on. This article will cover everything you’ve ever wanted to know about hickeys (but were too afraid to ask).
What Is a Hickey?
A hickey is a bruise-like mark caused by sucking or kissing on the skin. As the sucking pressure increases, tiny blood vessels called capillaries burst and leave a bruise-like mark on the affected skin. Often found on the neck, hickeys can occur at almost any point on the body.
Whilst generally harmless, complications can arise and there have even been deaths linked to hickeys. In 2016, a 17-year-old in Mexico City suffered a stroke that doctors believed was caused by a hickey. According to The Independent, the suction of the hickey resulted in a blood clot that traveled to the teen’s brain and caused the stroke.
Thankfully, most hickeys cause little more than a tender mark on the skin. As reported in Medscape, whilst it’s theoretically possible for a blood clot to be caused by a hickey, it is exceedingly rare.
How Long do Hickeys Last?
If you have a hickey, you’re probably wondering how long it will be there for. The good news is that hickeys are not permanent. Like most bruise injuries, hickeys will generally last a couple of days to two weeks.
The duration of a hickey is affected by a number of factors:
- Severity: if you have a light hickey, the mark will likely disappear quickly. If a hickey is caused by extended strong pressure, more blood pools under the skin which results in a darker hickey. Basically, the more damage done to the blood vessels, the longer it will take to heal.
- Location of the hickey: while it’s possible to get a hickey just about anywhere on your body, they are more often seen on the neck, arms, lips, and chest. As this skin has little supporting tissue, bruises are more easily made.
- General health: some people bruise more easily than others. Some medications can also play a role in how long a hickey will take to fade.
How to Get Rid of a Hickey
Hickeys heal like other bruises, and over time the body will reabsorb the blood that created the mark. But if you just can’t stand having the mark on your body, there are a few things you can do to help speed up the process.
Cold Compress
Running for a cold pack in the middle of kissing someone may not be the best way to increase the romance, but it will help reduce the severity of your hickey. The cool temperature helps to slow blood flow and reduce inflammation, while the pressure applied may stop the blood from forming a bruise.
Grab a cold pack from the freezer and apply it to the hickey. Ice wrapped in cloth will also work, or another method you can try is to place a soup spoon in the freezer for 10 minutes. Whatever you use, apply to the hickey for 10 minutes multiple times a day for the first two days.
Hot Compress
Once you’ve iced the hickey for two days, the blood vessels should be almost healed, but a bruise may still be evident on the skin. Applying a hot compress at this point will help speed up the body’s reabsorption of blood and circulate new blood to the area.
To do this, place a hot water bottle, hot towel, or heat pack on the affected area for 10 to 20 minutes, multiple times a day. If you don’t have a heat pack, run a towel under some hot water and wring it out before applying. Reheat the towel as needed.
Apply Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is well known for its natural moisturizing and healing properties. While it may not help speed up the healing process of a hickey, aloe vera can be useful to help soothe inflamed skin.
Rub aloe extract onto your hickey two to three times a day and massage it. If you don’t have access to an aloe plant, pick up an aloe-rich cream from your local pharmacy.
How to Hide a Hickey
Hickeys can be hard to get rid of. Like any injury, sometimes they just need time to heal and completely disappear. If you’re stuck with a particularly stubborn love bite, the below tips might make it is easier to cover up.
Wear the Right Clothes & Accessories
Depending on its location and the weather, hiding a hickey can be as simple as picking the right wardrobe. If you have a hickey on your neck or arms, a long-sleeve shirt or turtle-neck should help cover it up. For men and women alike, a scarf can be another useful item for covering up a hickey. Both can be great when the weather is cold, but may not be the best thing on a hot summer day.
Another useful accessory that can help hide a hickey is headphones. Even in the middle of summer, a large pair of headphones around your neck won’t look out of place (or keep you warm). When worn with a tight neck t-shirt, your hickey will become virtually invisible.
Cover It Up
As hickeys can occur virtually anywhere on the body, sometimes it’s just not possible to cover them with clothing. In these cases, you might want to reach for the makeup bag. While applying makeup might be foreign for some, applying foundation, concealer, and powder can be one of the most effective ways of hiding a hickey.
Another useful item can be a band-aid. For small hickeys where a band-aid wouldn’t look out of place, this can be a quick method of covering up the mark.
Final Word
Most hickeys are completely harmless and will clear up by themselves in a couple weeks. While they can be unsightly, especially when we get older, knowing how to get rid of or hide hickeys will help keep the embarrassment to a minimum.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickey
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/teen-dies-hickey-stroke_us_57c5f288e4b0e60d31dc03e7
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/teenager-dies-love-bite-from-girlfriend-causes-stroke-julio-macias-gonzalez-mexico-city-a7215171.html
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/868794
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/in-depth/easy-bruising/art-20045762
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