A hickey is nothing more than a skin bruise caused by prolonged sucking of the mouth against the skin. The bruise becomes discolored when small blood vessels called capillaries break and leak blood into the soft tissues under the skin. Giving a hickey is easy, but getting rid of it is not, and having one in plain sight can be embarrassing. Luckily, there are ways to easily remove a hickey.
Step 1
Apply an icepack to the hickey for 15 minutes twice daily for one day. Your skin will start to swell after getting the hickey. This causes the small blood vessels in the area to constrict. The cold will constrict the blood vessels in the area and help keep the bruise from spreading.
Step 2
Massage the hickey gently for five to 10 minutes for one or two days until the bruise fades away. The hickey is caused by ruptured capillaries which bleed out into the surrounding tissue forming blood clots. Gently massaging the hickey, will break down the blood clots so they are reabsorbed into your bloodstream.
Step 3
Apply a heat pack to the hickey for five minutes, three times daily after 24 hrs. Applying heat will help dilate the blood vessels under the skin to allow fresh blood to flow and eliminate the old blood clots.
Step 4
Apply arnica twice daily to the hickey. The arnica herb may help reduce swelling and minimize the appearance of the hickey. You can use arnica in cream or roll-on form. You can buy arnica at any large health food store.
Things You'll Need
- Ice pack
- Heat pack
- Arnica cream
References
- "Herbal Medicine: Revised & Updated"; Dian Dincin Buchman; 1996
- MotherNature.com: Bruises
