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Nov 13, 2023 · Typical bruise or hickey stages can vary according to the severity or your skin tone, but can include: Day 1. Redness will appear because of the blood under the skin. Days 1-2. The bruise becomes ...
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- How long will my hickey last?
- 1. Start with a cold compress
- 2. Then try to boost blood flow with a warm compress
- 3. Massage the area
- 4. Add peppermint essential oil to your massage
- 5. Apply topical vitamin K
- 6. Try a banana peel mask
- 7. Apply topical vitamin C
- 8. Smooth some cocoa butter on
Hickeys usually require anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to go away. Applying topical creams, using a cold compress, and other home remedies may help to slightly speed up the process.
One minute, your neck is clear after an intimate moment with your partner. The next, it’s covered with a big, round, purple mark. Hickeys form when the tiny blood vessels under your skin are broken, leaving a noticeable bruise.
Hickeys can last anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. So if you’re trying to hide one, you may spend a long time in turtlenecks or touching up the area with concealer. But there are a few ways to speed up the healing process. Of course, nothing will make a hickey magically disappear in minutes, but these 10 techniques may help it clear up a few days faster.
A cold compress may help reduce the swelling of a brand new bruise. The cool temperature helps slow the flow of blood from the vessel into the skin. You could also use an ice pack, a cloth dampened with cold water, or even a chilled spoon. Whatever you use, apply the compress to the hickey for 10 minutes several times per day for the first 2 days.
Learn more: How to make your own cold compress »
After two days of using a cold compress, it’s time to apply some heat. A warm compress can increase your circulation in the bruised area. This may help the hickey fade sooner rather than later.
Starting on day three, apply a warm compress for 10 minutes several times per day.
Massages are known to relieve pain and stimulate blood flow. Gently massaging or rubbing your hickey for a few minutes per day may speed up fading. A light touch is key — applying too much pressure could actually make the bruise worse.
Peppermint essential oil can help stimulate blood flow to the area. This may help reduce the size and severity of your hickey.
Be sure to use essential oil, not the extract that’s used for cooking. And always use diluted essential oils. A general rule of thumb is to add about 12 drops of a carrier oil, like coconut or olive oil, to every 1 to 2 drops of essential oil.
You should also do a skin patch test first. Apply a small amount of diluted essential oil to the inside of your forearm. If you don’t experience any irritation within 24 hours, the oil should be safe to apply elsewhere.
Once you know it’s safe to use, massage a small amount of diluted peppermint essential oil onto the hickey. You can do this as often as you’d like.
Topical vitamin K has been shown to clear up bruises more quickly and speed up skin healing. This is because the vitamin plays a key role in your body’s blood-clotting process.
Apply a good amount of vitamin K cream to your hickey as needed to reduce the appearance of the bruise. You could also take vitamin K supplements or eat vitamin K-rich foods to further boost production. Try leafy greens or brown rice.
The inside of a banana peel is rich with vitamins and nutrients that can help reduce the appearance of a bruise. Rub the inside of a peel from a ripe banana on your hickey for up to 30 minutes or until the peel turns brown. Repeat this technique at least twice per day until your hickey has faded.
Vitamin C is essential to keeping your skin healthy and smooth. It has great antioxidant properties and may help boost your skin’s collagen production. In fact, vitamin C may even strengthen the skin tissue around your blood vessels, which could help heal your hickey.
Apply a vitamin C-enriched cream to the affected area daily. Eating more citrus and plant-based foods may also be beneficial.
Cocoa butter, a fat derived from cocoa beans, is a staple in many skin care regimens — and with good reason. Cocoa butter has been shown to smooth scars, stretch marks, wrinkles, and other skin marks. That’s because it’s rich in fatty acids and phytochemicals believed to help nourish skin, improve elasticity, and slow aging.
You can apply cocoa butter lotion to your hickey once or twice per day to help speed up healing.
- Cold spoon or cold compress. In the first day after a new bruise, you can apply a cold compress or chilled spoon directly to the hickey. This will slow down the flow of blood from the broken capillaries, and it may help reduce the size of the bruise.
- Aloe vera pulp. The thick, gelatinous pulp inside an aloe vera leaf may reduce inflammation, skin swelling, and pain. Apply a thin layer of the pulp directly to the bruise two times per day.
- Peppermint oil. This essential oil, whose main component is menthol, may help stimulate blood flow where it’s applied, which could speed up bruise healing.
- Cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is used in a variety of topical skin treatments. While research on cocoa butter reveals mixed results, many swear by cocoa butter for smoothing scars, reducing stretch marks and wrinkles, and eliminating or decreasing other superficial marks on skin.
- Apply warm compresses. Your best bet is to treat your hickey with good old-fashioned warm compresses. “Warm compresses can help open up your body’s blood vessels and break down the stain, taking away the red blood cells that have spilled out from the blood vessels and into your skin,” he explains.
- Avoid cold compresses. Although cold compresses can help in cases of more substantial bruising, don’t bother putting them on your hickey unless it’s in the first few minutes after you get one.
- Use healing gels and creams. In addition to the warm compress method, you can apply gels or creams that contain the following ingredients to help speed up the healing process
- Consider laser therapy. If you have a big event coming up, you can ask your doctor about laser removal for a hickey in the 24 to 48 hours after it first appears.
Dec 24, 2020 · 3. Let it heal. The only tried-and-true hickey-removal methods are time and patience, so just sit back, relax, and give it time. Most hickeys will “change color and fade” within a few weeks ...
Aug 17, 2024 · Read on to learn how to get rid of a hickey on your neck fast, as well as tips for covering one up. LightFieldStudios / Getty Images. 1. Alternate Cold and Warm Compresses. Ice helps constrict ...
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Jun 29, 2024 · Treating the Hickey for the First 48 Hours. Download Article. 1. Choose a cold compress. You can use ice or a cold compress, but be sure to wrap it in a towel. [1] Or, put a metal spoon in the freezer, and apply the back side of the spoon directly to the site of the hickey. 2. Apply cold compress to the hickey.
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