How To Get Rid Of Hickeys Fast

It's all fun and games until you're forced to hide a conspicuous welt on the left side of your neck with a heavy and suffocating scarf for the entire day (despite the blazing temperature). You could smile wanly and blame it on a cold of course, but why not get rid of it entirely with some nifty D.I.Y home remedies?

This article will discuss some popular anti-hickey solutions which can be easily and swiftly tried at home, right now. If a single method doesn't work right off-the-bat for you, fret not, sometimes it can take a little time for the effects to kick in. In any case, I suggest employing a combination of methods -- just to be on the safe side of embarrassment!

As with bruises in general, speed is of the essence. Unfortunately, given the context of acquiring a hickey, I'm going to assume you're love bite has already begun to age like fine wine.

In the unlikely event that you catch the bruise within it's first 10 minutes of life you could try applying oil to the edge of a coin and rubbing the hickey down firmly in an attempt to get the blood vessels to break up quickly.

For the rest of us, here are a list of home methods that people continuously and repeatedly swear by:

• Throw a few ice cubes into a towel and rub gently around the hickey in order to prevent or reduce swelling. Do not press firmly on the hickey or it will darken the color of the bruise and make it more visible!
• As weird as it sounds, applying toothpaste to the hickey (long enough for the tingling sensation to stop) can help dissipate the bruise. Peppermint inside the paste is believed to improve circulation in the area thus hastening the healing process.
• The "hot and cold" technique involves switching from covering the affected area with a cold compress and a warm one in order to force the blood vessels to constrict and then dilate (which should rapidly help dissipate the bruise). Popular variations of this method include chilling a spoon in the fridge and then pressing it on the hickey and releasing at given intervals. But beware that overdoing it with cold can deepen the color of the bruise!
• I have read (but not tried this myself -- I'm currently single) that rubbing the hickey with the bristles of a toothbrush can help clear up the underlying bruise.

If you're reading this, chances are you don't have a spoon sitting idly in the freezer -- but fear not -- even if the bruise shows no signs of evicting the premises, you can rely on some indirect methods to save the day.

If nothing seems to fly, and the bugger seems here to stay for the immediate future, you can still save your face and dignity with a few straight-forward adjustments. Consider the following:

• Make up - Hide the hickey with make-up which efficiently masks red skin tones such as a green-tinted concealer or foundation.
• Clothing - Donning your favorite turtle-neck, or high collar shirt in the middle of the summer can look strange -- but hey -- you have a cold right?
• Massaging - A good old rub would help circulation and speed-up the healing process.
• Arnica salve - Applying a herbal salve of Arnica can both reduce swelling and heal a hickey.
• Vitamin K - This vitamin will help the body reabsorb subcutaenous blood. Feel free to increase your intake of spinach, turnips, kale or brussel sprouts. Most green leafed foods should do the trick!

Getting rid of hickeys fast can depend on the individual as well as the method. People who take aspirin will find that they bruise more easily and therefore will have more hickey and bruise related problems than most other people (and also delayed healing). For those who do bruise easily -- I suggest trying out as many methods as possible and hopefully finding one that works well for you.

I hope this article has been of use to you, and possibly even led you to a long-lasting, working strategy for future mishaps! For any questions, criticisms, suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear from you in the comment section below.