Sometimes, in the moment of love, we hardly control our actions.
And the appearance of hickey is very common, considered as a spontaneous result of aggressive love.
Hickey is not a health problem at all. However, it may become a problem when you have to show yourself in front of dozens of people.
In this article, you will find how to remove a hickey quickly and naturally.
What Is A Hickey?
A hickey refers to a type of bruise and can be described as love bite or kiss mark.
It happens because somebody sucks or kisses our skin too aggressively. This breaks capillaries and as a result, blood will be pooled and our skin will turn into red or purple.
In most cases, hickey will disappear itself after a week and not leave any scar or mark.
Causes
Capillaries are known as the smallest blood vessels. When there is damage to them, bleeding will happen.
At first, hickey will cause your skin to be red and when no oxygen is carried to these areas, they will finally become purple or brown.
What Increases Your Risks?
Although love actions are mainly responsible for this problem, some are more likely to suffer from it.
Few people are aware that mild injuries on the neck will increase the risk of hickey.
Besides, diabetic patients might suffer from permanent skin damage due to hickey.
Symptoms
In addition to visible redness on the skin, you might experience some other common symptoms of hickey:
- Swelling
- Blood clots
- In serious circumstances, some even experience stroke or paralyze because of nerve damages
Home Remedies for Hickeys
Even though hickey is not life-threatening or problematic, it still should be addressed as soon as possible.
And with these following top 15 natural home remedies for hickeys, you will no longer have to worry about it.
1. Aloe Vera
Undeniably, aloe vera is one of the best home remedies for you hickeys that anyone can use.
Serving as a natural moisturizer, aloe vera has calming effects on sensitive skin areas affected by hickeys.
In addition, it is anti-inflammatory and soothing, which speeds up the healing process of broken capillaries.
How to apply:
- Apply the fresh gel over areas affected by hickey and massage them for a while
- Follow this method 2-3 times on the daily basis
In case aloe vera plant is not available, you might go for cream or lotion from aloe vera and follow the same method.
Make sure that you know all wonderful health benefits of aloe vera.
2. Cold Compress
An even simpler home remedy for hickey than aloe vera is cold compress.
In the process of hickey removal, we would need to break blood clots apart, which enables our blood to spread out. And cold compress fulfills this mission perfectly.
The coldness can constrict our broken capillaries and stop bleeding quickly. This remedy also has wonderful effects on swelling.
How to apply:
- Use a paper towel to keep ice cubes
- Press the towel on the skin affected by hickey in about 15 minutes
Note:Â Ice should not be used alone because its contact with skin might worsen the situation.
3. Alcohol
When you notice hickey only few hours after you got it, alcohol might be one of the best home remedies for hickeys.
Alcohol has cooling, soothing and disinfectant qualities which are effective to deal with hickies on body.
How to apply:
- Soak a cotton ball into alcohol and apply it over areas affected by hickeys
- Rub these skin areas gently in about 5-10 minutes in order to reduce discomforts
- Then, use moisturizing lotions to keep your skin far away from dryness which is a possible side effect of alcohol
You can follow this remedy a few times on the daily basis and hickeys will disappear within 1-2 days.
4. Banana Peel
Surprisingly, now you can even banana peel as one of the best home remedies for hickeys.
It has wonderful cooling and soothing effects on the skin and reduces the redness due to hickey quickly.
How to apply:
- Prepare a piece of banana peel with the same size as the hickey
- Then, apply its inside part over your skin in about 20 minutes
You should apply this method 2-3 times every day to get the best hickey removal.
5. Peppermint
Peppermint has stimulant effects which are beneficial for our blood circulation.
Thus, it can be considered as one of the most effective home remedies for hickeys.
Furthermore, nutrients from this ingredient will be absorbed quickly into the skin and cure broken capillaries.
Peppermint is also strongly anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal, so you can reduce the risk of infections or swelling.
All you need is to rub some peppermint oil on the skin affected by hickeys and massage them for a while.
However, this method should be repeated over twice per day because of the possibility of irritations.
A tingling sensation might appear when you start applying the oil over the skin, but there is no need to worry about.
6. Cocoa Butter
The next home remedy for hickeys that you need to know is cocoa butter.
This ingredient provides a lot of moisture for our skin naturally. Therefore, people have made use of it to deal with many skin diseases or inflamed skin.
How to apply:
- First, apply warm compress on the skin (by soaking a soft towel into warm water and placing it on the skin)
- Then, rub cocoa butter over these areas
- Massage them in about 5 minutes
You can do so up to 5 times per day to accelerate the treatment.
7. Witch Hazel
Among herbal home remedies for hickeys, witch hazel is one of the most popular.
With anti-inflammatory qualities, it is effective to help you deal with annoying symptoms of this problem, including swelling.
How to apply:
- Prepare witch hazel tea by steeping it with hot water for several minutes
- Then, when the mixture is warm, soak a cloth into it
- Apply the cloth over areas affected by hickeys a few times per day
Another way to take advantage of the herb is to crush witch hazel and rub the paste over your skin. Remember to take lukewarm water to cleanse the skin later.
8. Toothpaste
The use of toothpaste on hickeys might sound strange to many people, but it is completely true.
In addition to whitening the teeth, toothpaste has many other advantages, including hickey removal.
It contains fluoride which has positive impacts on our blood circulation.
Nevertheless, like peppermint, toothpaste might make you feel tingling at first, but this sensation is the sign that it works for hickey treatment.
9. Tea Bags
Some tea bags can work as really effectively as home remedies for hickeys.
They provide some nutrients that are essential to the healing process of our damaged skin. For example, tannin in green tea does wonder for our skin condition.
You should apply warm tea bags over areas affected by hickeys because the warmth will improve the healing speed.
10. Orange
Loaded with much vitamin C, orange is one of the most nutritious home remedies for hickeys in the list.
Vitamin C plays an essential role in the recovery of damaged skin cells. Therefore, your body will need a lot of it in order to heal a hickey quickly.
There are many ways to use orange as a tip on how to make a hickey go away.
As soon as you notice a hickey, you had better consume fresh orange juice a few times per day.
In rare cases when you are short of oranges, the recommendation is to use 500 milligrams of vitamin C to boost the level of collagen in your body. Do so 3 times on the daily basis.
11. Vitamin K
Vitamin K plays an important role in the prevention against blood clots. Therefore, you should take it as much as possible to remove hickeys on neck.
You can go for cream or lotion which contains a lot of vitamin K.
Alternatively, a diet which consists of much vitamin K will do wonder for hickey treatment. You should maximize the use of these foods, such as broccoli, spinach, fish oil or brown rice.
Besides, vitamin K supplements are a good choice, but you will need advice from professional experts or doctors.
12. Parsley
With a lot of vitamins and nutrients in its content, parsley gives a lot of health benefits for us.
Among them, parsley is well-known for its positive effects on human skin conditions.
You can totally use it as a natural home remedy for hickeys. It will improve the healing process significantly.
How to apply:
- Crush parsley to get a paste
- Then, the paste should be applied over areas affected by hickey
- Use a cloth to cover this area
- About an hour later, remove it and take water to cleanse your skin
You can apply the remedy up to 3 times per day to get the best improvements.
13. Apple Cider Vinegar
Within 1-2 days after getting hickeys, some home remedies for hickeys will work best for you.
However, apple cider vinegar is not like that. It is better to use this ingredient to heal your skin after 2-3 days.
But never use the vinegar directly on the skin because of its strong acidity.
Instead, you should mix 4-5 tablespoons into warm water and use a cotton swab to apply the mixture on the skin. You can do so up to 3 times per day to get the best results.
14. Tuna Oil
It might be strange, but yes, tuna oil is a tip on how to heal hickeys as well.
This ingredient contains an excellent amount of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids. They are all beneficial for the reproduction of skin cells.
You just need to apply it over areas affected by hickeys and repeat doing so 2-3 times every day.
15. Massage
One of the most important steps in many home remedies for hickeys mentioned above is massage.
Undoubtedly, it works perfectly to improve the flow of blood inside our body. As a result, there would be no blood clots that damage our skin.
You should massage the skin in one direction and reverse, along with the use of some essential oils.
Just 5 minutes per time and 2-3 times on the daily basis can bring significant changes in your skin, not only treating hickey.
What to Avoid
Beside home remedies for hickeys, you should be well aware of what to avoid in order to maximize the benefits you get.
The most important thing when you get hickey is that you had better not rub or scrap this skin area too aggressively.
Or else you will suffer from painful feeling. Even worse, some even get scars or mark because of pressing it too hard.
When to See Doctor
Overall, hickey is not dangerous at all, so the help from doctor is unnecessary for this case.
Yet, if you experience any pain, you still ought to have a doctor examine your situation in order to figure out what is happening.
How to Prevent Hickeys
Obviously, aggressive actions of love are the main contributor to the appearance of hickeys. So, the bets tip on how to prevent hickeys is to tell your partners to stop sucking or kissing you too aggressively.
We hope these natural home remedies for hickeys can help you out of many embarrassing situations. Let love be one of the greatest things happening to us! If you have any secret tip on how to hide a hickey, do not hesitate to let us know by commenting on the box!