Homemade Remedies to Get Rid of Hickeys

So you have at least one "hickey" or "sucker bite" on your neck, and you want to get rid of it. You can always use the good old stand bys, which include wearing a turtleneck, pulling your long hair around your neck to hide it, or wearing a neck scarf. These can help you hide the mark for a short time. But, since it normally takes about a week for hickeys to go away on their own, you can't use these short-term cover ups for that long... people would get suspicious. Instead, read this informative article and learn about some homemade remedies to get rid of hickeys!

What Are Hickeys?
Hickeys are basically bruises. When enough suction is applied to an area of the skin, especially the neck, it causes the blood vessels towards the surface to break. The blood then seeps out of the vessels. The blood is what causes the area to turn black and blue.

Hickeys are worse when they're located on the neck and face because there are more blood vessels in those areas as opposed to the arms and legs, for example.

Rubbing Alcohol to the Rescue
The best way to keep your skin from bruising is to douse the area with plenty of rubbing alcohol. I don't mean just put some on the injured area and forget it. I mean, keep putting lots of alcohol on the hickey for several minutes. If you can do it right after you receive it, a black and blue bruise won't have a chance to form at all!

If you don't have any rubbing alcohol handy, Witch Hazel works well too on sucker bites.

Immediately Ice the Injured Area
Another homemade remedy to get rid of hickeys is to put ice on the injured area. But, just like with using rubbing alcohol, you need to put the ice on the hickey right away or it won't be as efficient.

To use this method, place a few ice cubes in a small towel (a dish towel works well) and hold it against your skin. Rub the ice gently around in a circular motion. Do this for ten minutes. If the skin on your neck gets too cold, wrap another towel around the ice.

After the time is up, remove the ice, but massage the skin with your fingers. After ten minutes, reapply the ice and continue to rub it in a circular motion. Keep this up and keep checking the area to see how it looks.