6 Tips to Get Rid of a Hickey Fast
Key takeaways:
Hickeys are bruises that form when pressure or suction is applied to the skin.
There’s no proven method to make a hickey disappear, but cool compresses, arnica cream, and creams with vitamin K may help it fade faster.
A hickey will fade over time, but it can take up to 2 weeks for it to completely disappear.
If you’ve ever developed redness or a dark spot on your skin after being intimate with a partner, you’re not alone. A hickey is a type of bruise that forms when pressure or suction causes small blood vessels under the skin to break. Blood leaks out of damaged blood vessels and becomes trapped beneath the skin, creating a red or purple spot.
Hickeys aren’t dangerous. They’ll go away without any special treatment, and they don’t leave scars. Hickeys usually take about 2 weeks to completely heal. But smaller hickeys can heal faster while larger ones may take more time to go away.
While hickeys aren’t harmful, they might be embarrassing for some people. There’s no proven way to make your hickey heal faster, but there are at-home treatments you can try that may improve the appearance of a hickey. Here are six you can try.
Search and compare options
1. Cold compress
Cold temperatures cause blood vessels to constrict, or get smaller in size. This can reduce the amount of blood that leaks out of damaged blood vessels and result in a smaller bruise.
Dr. Maria Robinson, a board-certified dermatologist and GoodRx contributor, recommends applying ice wrapped in a towel to a hickey for 15 minutes several times on the first day you notice it.
“The best thing you can do is to apply something cold to the area as quickly as possible. This should help minimize the size and appearance of a bruise,” Robinson said. “After bruises are established, there’s not much that’s been proven to get rid of them faster.”
2. Warm compress
On the other hand, if you’ve had a hickey for more than 48 hours, a warm compress is the way to go. Warmth helps nearby blood vessels to dilate, or open up. This may make it easier for the trapped blood beneath the skin to be reabsorbed or broken down. 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. A burn on top of a bruise will also take longer to heal.
If you don’t have a heating pad, you can make your own using rice and a sock. First, fill a sock with dry, white rice and then microwave it for 15 seconds. Make sure the sock isn’t too hot and then lay it across your hickey.
Read more like this
Explore these related articles, suggested for readers like you.
3. Bromelain
Bromelain is a protein found in pineapples that may reduce inflammation and bruising. There are no studies specifically looking at using bromelain for hickeys, but there’s some evidence that bromelain can help reduce swelling and bruising after surgery.
Bromelain is available in pills, capsules and powders as well as gel forms that are meant to be applied directly to the skin. In studies that looked at whether bromelain lowered inflammation, swelling and bruising after surgery, participants took bromelain by mouth. But, there’s no recommendation on how much bromelain people should take. Different supplement brands often have their own recommendations about dosing, so it’s best to follow the label. As with all supplements, bromelain isn’t regulated by the FDA so the exact amount of bromelain in a supplement can differ from brand to brand. Instead of a pill, you can try applying bromelain gel to your hickey once a day and see if it helps your hickey seem less noticeable.
4. Arnica
Arnica is an herb with anti-inflammatory properties that has been studied as a way to reduce pain and bruising after surgery. There are mixed results when people use arnica cream for bruises. In some studies, people who took arnica tablets had an improvement in the appearance of their bruises after surgery. But in other studies, people who took arnica tablets didn’t have less bruising than people who were given a placebo cream.
Arnica is available as pills, creams, or lotions. Like bromelain, there’s no recommendation on how much arnica people should take to help with bruising. If you try a pill form, it’s best to follow manufacturer instructions. As a supplement, arnica isn’t regulated by the FDA.
Instead of the pill form, you can try arnica cream or lotion once a day to see if it improves the appearance of your hickey.
5. Vitamin K cream
Vitamin K is an essential vitamin that allows your body to make blood clots. There’s some evidence that vitamin K powders may speed up wound healing, but this effect was mostly noted in animal studies. Some small studies showed that people who used topical vitamin K after cosmetic procedures developed less bruising.
There are many commercially available creams that contain vitamin K. The strength of vitamin K varies depending on which brand you buy. And the strength of what you buy in stores may be less than the strength of creams used in studies. But, vitamin K creams are generally safe so you can try applying one twice a day to your hickey and see if it helps it fade.
But Robinson advises caution when it comes to any creams for hickeys.
“Be careful not to irritate the area even more with too many creams or by rubbing it too much, especially if you have underlying sensitive skin,” Robinson said. “This could end up making the area inflamed and more noticeable.”
6. Cover it up
You can get rid of your hickey fast by hiding it. Unlike other options, this is an easy way that will make your hickey less noticeable. You can use a concealer or color-correcting treatment to hide the skin discoloration from your hickey. You want to choose the opposite color of your hickey to neutralize its appearance. So if your hickey looks more red, choose a green-based color correcting treatment or concealer. But if your hickey has a blue tinge, go with a yellow-based color correcting treatment or concealer.
Another popular option is to cover your hickey with clothing. A turtleneck, high collar or scarf can all help cover up any marks on your neck until your hickey heals.
The bottom line
Many people develop visible bruises, or hickeys, after intimate time with a partner. Unfortunately, once they develop, there’s no easy answer for getting rid of them quickly. Cold compresses applied before a bruise forms is your best bet for reducing the size of a hickey. Other treatments like using topical vitamin K or arnica creams may help. If all else fails, you can use clothing or makeup to keep the area covered up until it heals.
Why trust our experts?
References
Chaiet, S. R., et al. (2016). Perioperative arnica montana for reduction of ecchymosis in rhinoplasty surgery. Annals of Plastic Surgery.
Kostadinova-Petrova, I., et al. (2017). Histological characteristics of bruises with different age. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2020). Bromelain.
New York University Langone Health Department of Surgery. (2014). Bromelain.
MedlinePlus. (2022). Arnica.
MedlinePlus. (2023). Bruise healing - series—healing, part 2.
Pavan, R., et al. (2012). Properties and therapeutic application of bromelain: A review. Biotechnology Research International.
Shah, N. S., et al. (2002). The effects of topical vitamin K on bruising after laser treatment. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Stevinson, C., et al. (2003). Homeopathic arnica for prevention of pain and bruising: randomized placebo-controlled trial in hand surgery. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Tang, S., et al. (2022). Effect of vitamin K on wound healing: A systematic review and meta-analysis based on preclinical studies. Frontiers in Pharmacology.
