# Hickeys: What Happens to Your Skin and How to Heal Faster
A hickey is a bruise. When intense kissing or sucking breaks capillaries beneath your skin, blood pools in the damaged area. Your body then works to reabsorb that blood over time.
The healing process follows a predictable color progression. The mark starts bright red or purple within the first few hours. Over the next week to two weeks, it shifts through blue, then green, brown, and finally yellow as your body breaks down the hemoglobin in the trapped blood.
Most hickeys resolve completely within 5 to 14 days, though the timeline depends on how deep the damage runs and how efficiently your body heals. Severe hickeys may linger closer to two weeks. Mild marks can fade in just five days.
Cold therapy works best in the first 48 hours after a hickey forms. Applying ice packs reduces swelling and numbs pain by constricting blood vessels. After two days, switch to warm compresses to increase circulation and speed reabsorption of the trapped blood.
Comfrey ointment shows promise for reducing both the size and discoloration of bruises, including hickeys. The herb contains compounds that may accelerate healing and collagen remodeling.
While hickeys are harmless in the vast majority of cases, rare complications exist. Skin infections can develop if bacteria enter through broken skin. In extremely rare circumstances, large hickeys on the neck have theoretically contributed to blood clots, though this remains exceptionally uncommon.
For immediate coverage, makeup specifically formulated for bruises works better than standard foundation. Green or yellow-toned concealer neutralizes the purple and blue tones, while full-coverage products hide the mark entirely.
The bottom line: your body handles hickeys like any other bru