How to Get Rid Of Hickeys Fast: The Best Natural Ways

After a passionate embrace with your partner, you may be a bit concerned or even shocked to find that you have been left with a hickey on your neck, arm, or another area of your body. Although a hickey or love bite isn’t a serious medical problem, most people want to get rid of a hickey as fast as possible, especially if it can be seen by others.

As well as being called love bites, hickeys are also called kiss marks, suck marks, or love symbols and they occur when sucking or kissing the skin breaks the small blood vessels (capillaries) under the surface of the skin. This causes a red or purple bruise-like mark on your skin to appear. Hickeys will go away in time on their own, but depending on how passionate the love bite was made, it could last anywhere between 5 and 12 days.

You can usually hide a hickey with makeup or clothing; however, that may not be possible for everyone. For example, the sudden appearance of a scarf around your neck (especially when it’s hot outside) could be a giveaway that you are trying to hide a hickey. Also, guys with hickeys may not have easy access to makeup to cover over the bruise on their necks.

But don’t worry if you have noticed a hickey in a sensitive place and want to get rid of it quickly. There are many natural home remedies that can help reduce the appearance of the hickey quickly. At the end of the article, you can also find out one way that is guaranteed to prevent hickeys forever.

The Best Ways to Get Rid of a Hickey Fast

The best way to get rid of a hickey fast it to treat the bruised area of skin as quickly as possible after you get one. This helps to minimize the size of the hickey and makes sure that it clears up quickly. Because they are similar to bruises, home remedies to treat bruises are also effective in treating hickeys naturally.

Cold Compress

The most effective way to heal a hickey fast and prevent the blood from forming a dark mark under your skin is to use a cold compress. Dr. William Sheil says that using an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas on the damaged skin helps to reduce the flow of blood to the area and minimizes the size of the bruise.¹

To treat a hickey using a cold compress and help prevent a bruise from getting bigger, you should put some ice in a plastic bag and wrap it in a towel. Apply the ice pack to your hickey for 15 minutes at a time and leave an hour or so between applications. Apply the ice pack several times a day for 2 days to help reduce the bruising and swelling around the hickey. Remember, never put ice directly onto your skin because it can damage your skin resulting in frostbite.

Alternatively, you could put a cold spoon in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Wrap the spoon in a thin cloth and gently press onto the damaged skin area. Repeat this several times throughout the day to reduce the appearance of a hickey.

Warm Compress

After using the cold compress for 2 days to help make your love bite disappear quickly, the next step is to use a warm compress on your hickey.

Dr. Melinda Ratini on WebMD says that a warm compress on a bruised area will help it heal better and reduce any pain and tenderness that you have.²

Take a clean washcloth and soak it in warm water. Apply the hot cloth several times a day to your bruised skin to help the hickey heal quickly.

Remember, that you should only start using the warm compress 2 days after using the cold compress. If you use the warm compress just after you get a hickey, it can increase blood circulation around the affected area, making the bruising worse. You can read more about it in my article about when to use cold or heat therapy.

Vitamin K Cream

To heal a hickey, it’s important to prevent blood clots from forming a bruise under the skin. You can do this by applying vitamin K cream as soon as possible after you get a hickey. Vitamin K cream is used by many people to reduce bruising, heal a black eye, and relieve swelling because it helps to treat blood clotting problems and help the burst capillaries under your skin heal faster.³

Scientific research has also shown that vitamin K cream will help you get rid of hickeys faster. The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology reported that vitamin K cream helps to reduce the severity of bruising when applied in the first days after the skin has been damaged.⁴ So, the quicker you apply vitamin K cream to a hickey, the better.

To help speed up the healing process of the hickey, apply vitamin K cream to the affected skin area 2 to 3 times a day until the bruised skin is healed and there are no dark patches of skin left.

Arnica

Arnica is another natural remedy to heal your hickey fast and treat bruised and discolored skin. Arnica has been used for centuries to treat various ailments including skin injuries, muscle spasms, and even as a natural remedy for arthritis. What makes arnica good for skin injuries is that this powerful herb contains natural compounds, which are known to reduce inflammation and decrease pain.

Studies into the healing effects of arnica on bruised skin show that it is an effective natural remedy to treat bruises and reduce the appearance of damaged skin.

Arnica lotions and creams are widely available at many health stores and pharmacies.

Apply arnica to your bruised skin 2 to 3 times a day to reduce the appearance of a hickey naturally.

Comfrey

Comfrey is a great natural ingredient to make a hickey go away quickly, because it contains anti-inflammatory compounds and helps bruises heal fast. It also contains a substance which promotes the growth of new skin cells.

The beneficial effects of using a topical comfrey cream on bruised and damaged skin were published in a German study in 2002. Of the patients who received the comfrey ointment, most found that it was an effective treatment to heal their bruises and reduce pain and inflammation.⁵

You can also make your own anti-inflammatory comfrey cream or you can buy it at your local natural health store.

Apply a small amount of comfrey cream 2-3 times a day on the bruised skin to minimize the size of your hickey as fast as possible.

Aloe Vera

The anti-inflammatory properties of aloe vera make it an effective healing agent for bruises like hickeys. Because it also helps to soothe irritated skin, aloe vera gel is a great home remedy to get relief from the tingling and itchiness that some hickeys cause.

The fact that aloe vera gel helps bruises and damaged skin to heal fast was reported in the journal Advances in Dermatology and Allergology. The journal reported that aloe vera helps to treat minor skin irritations like bruises and abrasions.⁶ Other studies have shown that aloe vera applied to damaged skin helps to boost the production of collagen and can help damaged skin heal quicker.

You can apply some aloe vera gel directly from the leaf by cutting it open to extract some of the gel. Or, you can buy pure aloe vera gel.

Apply aloe vera to the affected skin area several times a day until the bruising goes down and the hickey is gone for good.

Chamomile

It may not be possible to get rid of hickeys overnight, but you can use chamomile oil as a natural remedy for a hickey because it soothes inflamed skin and helps bruises to heal quickly.

Research into the effects of chamomile oil on the skin has shown that it contains compounds which penetrate into the deeper skin layers and help reduce inflammation and bruising under the skin.⁷ Chamomile oil is used to heal all kinds of skin irritations, including bruises and itchy skin and helps wounds to heal quicker.

To use chamomile oil as a healing agent for hickeys, you should mix a few drops in a tablespoon of carrier oil like coconut or almond oil. Gently massage the remedy onto the hickey area up to 3 times a day until the discolored skin has gone completely.

If you don’t have chamomile oil at home, you can also use chamomile tea bags to treat a hickey. Pour some hot water over a chamomile tea bag to moisten the chamomile tea and extract its anti-inflammatory properties. Leave the tea bag to cool down, or place in the refrigerator. When the chamomile tea bag has cooled, use it as a compress on the bruised skin. Use this natural remedy 3 times a day to help the hickey heal quicker and get relief from any tingling sensation.

Witch Hazel

Witch hazel could be a useful natural remedy for treating hickeys because it can help bruises to fade faster. Witch hazel contains tannins which are a natural astringent that help to contract skin tissue to reduce inflammation, itching, and other skin irritations.⁸

To use witch hazel for a hickey, put some witch hazel on a cotton ball and gently hold against the affected area for a few minutes. Do this 2 to 3 times a day to help your hickey disappear quickly.

Tea Bags

Tea is also a rich source of tannins which can help reduce the appearance of bruised skin and help to speed up the healing process of a hickey. Tea contains tannins that help to constrict blood vessels to speed up the healing of bruises.

How to use:

You can use a tea bag as a natural warm compress to speed up the healing process of a hickey.

• Put one tea bag in a cup of boiling water and wait until the liquid is warm.
• Squeeze out the excess tea and gently hold the tea bag compress to your hickey.
• Keep in place on the bruised skin for 10-15 minutes.
• Repeat 3-4 times a day until the bruising disappears and your hickey is completely gone .

After removing the tea bag from your hickey, you could apply some arnica or vitamin K cream to help the bruised skin heal even faster.

How to Avoid Getting a Hickey

What is the only way to prevent getting a hickey and avoid the worry about trying to cover up that tell-tale bruise on your neck? Unfortunately, the only way to prevent a hickey from occurring is to get your partner to stop giving you one. So, of course, getting passionate with your partner is fun and exciting, but don’t let them lose so much control that you have to worry about a hickey the next day. After all, getting a hickey is no “accident.”

Many couples like to “leave their mark” on each other as a sign of their love and commitment. But, if you’ve got an important meeting to attend or go to school in the next few days, you could chat with your partner about making a hickey in a place that you can easily conceal.

Unfortunately, if a bruise has already formed, it’s not possible to get rid of a hickey in 5 minutes or even overnight. You may have to use make-up products, or an item of clothing to conceal the bruise while you use home remedies to speed up the healing process of a hickey.

Read these related articles:

1. How to Get Rid of Bruises Naturally (According to Research)
2. How to Use Cold or Heat Therapy for Pain, Bruises, Stiff Muscles and Joints
3. Top 22 Natural Painkillers in Your Kitchen
4. The Best 15 Natural Alternatives to Ibuprofen

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