You need to know how to get rid of a hickey if you want to avoid the social stigma that these unsightly marks on your skin can cause. While you may cherish the memory of the moment in which you acquired this mark of a passionate kiss, the next day you might feel disturbed by the thought of everyone and his uncle knowing exactly what you were doing. The problem is worsened when you actually have an important meeting or some public function to attend the next day. In fact, there are few environments in which you are not going to feel embarrassed by a big, red hickey shining on your neck or face.
If you truly want to know how to get rid of a hickey, you have to know what it really is. These marks are not blemishes, acne or stains. This eliminates the usefulness of a lot of skin products that might be familiar to you. Instead, hickeys are a short-lived, biological reaction to passionate contact with someone’s mouth.
How Hickey Accidents Happen
During a romantic encounter, with someone new or with your longtime partner, one or both of you may feel compelled to put your mouth on the other and make a sort of sucking action on the skin. While the sensation is often pleasant, it actually causes minor damage to the skin. Your body can easily repair this damage all on its own, but the tiny, broken blood vessels beneath the surface of your skin will spill enough blood to leave a red mark wherever such contact occurred. This leaves you needing to know how to get rid of a hickey.
If the sucking was especially prolonged or very intense, the red appearance of this mark could be extremely bright, almost shining. The reason for this is that a hickey is essentially a bruise. The inflammation of the skin and the tissue beneath it is similar to the inflammation that occurs following a physical blow to the same area.
How to Get Rid of a Hickey Fast
Hickeys will heal on their own. After all, they are not really injuries as much as they are results of impassioned contact. However, it may take several days for them to completely disappear and relieve you of the bothersome reminder of a romantic moment. After you look in the mirror and see the reddened skin where your lover left his or her mark on you, you will probably want some fast hickey treatment.
Fortunately for you, people learned how to get rid of a hickey a long time ago.. There are numerous ways to reduce the signs of swelling and hide the physical evidence of your passionate embrace from the public. Here are some quick hickey remedies.
• Wet a spoon and put it in the freezer. Do this some time before you need to be anywhere in the public eye. Once the layer of moisture on the spoon has frozen, take it out and place it gently against the hickey. This will reduce the swelling, which is one of the primary causes of the hickey’s appearance.
After leaving it there for a minute, get a soft toothbrush (preferably one that you have not used yet) and rub it against the same area in the following fashion. Place the bristles on the center of the affected area and swipe outward. This encourages blood flow. If you are not averse to makeup, dab some concealer or some powder on the spot.
• Use a cold compress. You should apply it to the affected area for at least ten minutes. If this does not have the affect you wanted, leave it on longer. This may seem like a long interruption to your schedule but, if your social well-being depends on it, this may be worth the wait.
• If this does not do the trick and you still have a hickey a day later, go in the opposite direction and use a wet and warm compress. This will also decrease swelling but in reverse fashion. The warmth will dilate the blood vessels, temporarily swelling the area, in order to increase the rate at which blood leaves the area. This solution is for the most stubborn hickeys.
• If these solutions are uncomfortable for you or otherwise not possible, try massaging the area with a comb or a hairbrush. The purpose here is to encourage the blood flow which was interrupted by the damage to blood vessels beneath the skin.
• Apply a warm, moist tea bag to the hickey. This is like the warm, wet compress but adds tea as an ingredient.
• If you are able, right after you receive the hickey, put a thin layer of mint toothpaste on a toothbrush and rub it gently against the area. Hopefully, this will at least lessen the brightness of the hickey.
• Some people swear that they know how to get rid of a hickey by rubbing a coin on the affected skin.
Sometimes a hickey is so strong that no solution will get rid of it. This should not be surprising, because the skin and the tissue beneath it have been damaged. These things have to heal. If it is not possible to accelerate the healing process, then use camouflage. Wear a turtleneck sweater. If that does not quite reach the area of the hickey, use a scarf. Sometimes you will not know how to get rid of a hickey if it is really big and bright.
