Hickeys, which are basically bruises from broken blood vessels, typically last from a few days up to two weeks, though most fade within about a week as your body reabsorbs the blood, changing from red to purple, green, and yellow before disappearing; the duration depends on the hickey's intensity and your body's healing ability, with immediate cold compresses potentially helping it heal faster.
Like other bruises, hickeys can take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks to go away. Hickeys are superficial bruises, which means they are on the surface of your skin. These types of bruises usually don't take as long to heal as deeper bruises like black eyes.
While the healing process may take up to 2 weeks, here are a few tips that will help any bruise to the skin, including hickies: Put an ice or cold pack on it right away to reduce pain and swelling. Repeat the cold treatment several times a day for 10 to 20 minutes each session.
Beyond pulse dye laser, Zeichner says that topical creams like Arnica or Vitamin K are your best bet for a speedy recovery. Plus, Zeichner says if the skin barrier is disrupted and the hickey becomes dry or itchy, you can also apply Vaseline petroleum jelly to protect the skin from infection and keep the wound clean.
According to makeup artist Ivy Boyd, you want to use a color corrector and concealer to hide a hickey. A fresh hickey has red and/or purple undertones, so apply a green corrector to red areas and a yellow corrector to purple areas. Then, use a concealer that matches your skin tone and set with powder.
A hickey is sometimes used to mark someone as being the target of a partner's romantic affection or as belonging to them.
Lip balm cap
Using the cap from a tube of lip balm to massage the skin is yet another suggestion that pops up all over Google. As with the massage techniques listed above, this won't “break apart” the hickey either.
“Any abrasive treatment of the skin like scrubbing with toothpaste or trying to scratch off the discoloration would be too superficial to impact the hickey. And it could even make the problem more apparent with scratches, bleeding, additional discoloration and scar formation.”
“It's just a bruise.”
Hickeys start out red because of the intact red blood cells in the bruise loaded with hemoglobin underneath the skin. After a few days, the red blood cells begin to break down, and shades of blue and purple appear. You may even see some shades of brown as your body breaks down the red blood cells (Jeney, 2013).
You can apply a warm compress for 5 to 10 minutes to your hickey once or twice a day. For your compress, you can use a reusable heating pad. You want to make sure that the compress is warm but not hot. If the compress is too hot, it can burn the already damaged skin, making redness worse and skin changes more obvious.
Since hickeys often have a reddish or purple hue, applying a green color corrector can help counteract the color and make it easier to conceal.
How to Get Rid of a Hickey Quickly?
There's surprisingly little research done on hickeys, but the general consensus is that they rarely last longer than two weeks, with many hickeys clearing up within just a few days.
Hickeys are dark red or purple bruises on the skin caused by light biting or sucking by another person. The suction can result in the blood vessels under the skin breaking, bleeding, and swelling. A normal hickey is not dangerous and may fade within two weeks.
One of the more common reasons these spots appear is length of practice time, making them a badge of honor for both amateur and professional players. However, this “mark of greatness” can actually be a sign of health problems. Violin hickeys are known to dermatologists as acne mechanica.
Dabbing Toothpaste on Your Hickey
Putting a glob of toothpaste on your love bite isn't going to do it any good. In fact, you might irritate the skin further.