A hickey is a discolored bruise-like mark that appears as a result of sucking, kissing, and biting on the skin, which usually takes place during a make-out or lovemaking session.
If you’ve never had a hickey before, or you’ve never given one to a guy before, then you may have questions about them.
One question that you may have about hickeys is do they hurt.
Hickeys can be painful, because again, they’re a result of kissing, sucking, and biting on a person’s neck, chest, or upper arm, and it takes some pretty forceful sucking to form a hickey.
You can even experiment on yourself by sucking on your arm or inner wrist until a hickey forms.
You will see just how much force is necessary with the sucking in order for the hickey to form.
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Why do people put hickeys on other people?
Sometimes, a person is so into a make-out or lovemaking session that they fail to realize that they’re sucking hard enough to form a hickey on their significant other.
That is one reason why hickeys are also referred to as “passion marks,” because they’re formed when a couple is in the heat of passion.
Some people put hickeys on their significant others as a way to stake their claim on that person, because if another woman sees a hickey on a man, then she’s less likely to come on to the guy.
Do older people put hickeys on each other, or is it just a young people thing?
Giving hickeys is typically a young person’s thing, as older people usually don’t suck or kiss their lover’s neck or arm hard enough to leave a bruise.
There may be some older couples who have gotten carried away and left hickeys on each other’s bodies, but this typically only happens among teens and young adults.
Teens and young adults sometimes believe that having a hickey signifies that they’re not losers, since they were obviously attractive enough to someone to get laid.
Getting rid of a hickey
Although it was likely fun receiving a hickey, walking around with one or more on your body just doesn’t look good.
Not only will you notice people looking at you in a weird way and wondering if you were bitten by something, but hickeys simply aren’t conducive to professionalism, which is important if you have a job or must behave professionally in another manner.
You can try to cover your hickeys up by using makeup, which is what many people do.
Healing your hickey faster
If you’re tired of covering your hickey with makeup, or makeup simply isn’t effective, then making the hickey go away quicker is your best bet.
Applying cold compresses directly to the affected area as soon as you notice the hickey will help reduce the flow of blood to the capillaries, and in turn, reduce the size of the bruise.
You might also want to invest in some Vitamin K cream and apply it directly to the hickey, as it can help accelerate the healing of the bruise.
What does jealousy have to do with hickeys?
Sometimes, a jealous boyfriend or girlfriend may decide that if they put hickeys on their significant other that he or she won’t be able to cheat, since it’s “obvious that they’re taken.”
However, if a person wants to cheat, having one or more hickeys will not necessarily stop them, because many people don’t care if the person they’re interested in having sex with is in a committed relationship with someone else.
Despite this fact, people who are jealous feel that putting a hickey on their significant other is a form of “protection,” although it’s really only providing them with a false sense of security.
How to hide a hickey
If hiding your hickey with the use of makeup was unsuccessful, then you could always use a fashionable scarf to hide the hickey, depending on its location.
If you have only one hickey or two that are close together, you might even opt to hide the area with a bandaid.
In some cases, you don’t need a scarf or a bandaid, as the right collared shirt could be used as a very effective way to hide a hickey, depending on its location.
Does giving a person a hickey mean you love them more than if you didn’t?
A hickey is not a way to measure your love for someone, and you can give a person multiple hickeys all over their neck without even loving them at all.
Giving a hickey is simply an act of sucking on someone’s neck hard enough to produce a bruise.
Many people love their partners immensely but would never think of sucking on their bodies hard enough to produce a hickey.
Hickeys and scarring
If you have a hickey and you’re worried about it leaving a scar, then you shouldn’t be.
Most hickeys heal within a week or two, and after that, the skin typically returns to its pre-hickey state.
However, if your hickey resulted from extreme sucking and biting, and your skin is very sensitive, then there could possibly be a scar once the hickey has completely healed.
Do hickeys make some people feel proud?
If a person has been in love with their significant other for a while and they have finally ended up becoming intimate, then it’s normal to feel proud, as it can be considered an accomplishment.
Every time they look in the mirror or receive a comment from a person wondering about their hickey, the proud person will likely smile.
However, for some people, hickeys are just part of intense and passionate lovemaking and do not make a person feel any more or less proud than if they didn’t have a hickey.
Hickeys and blue-collar jobs
If you and your partner recently got carried away during a lovemaking session, which left you with one or more hickeys, you might be concerned about it affecting your image at work.
It’s a known fact that showing up to certain jobs with one or more hickeys can appear extremely unprofessional.
However, if a person works a blue-collar job, such as at a factory, in a warehouse, or someplace similar, then it’s likely that having a hickey will have no impact on their professional image.
Hickeys and iron deficiency
If you have iron deficiency and someone has caused a hickey to form somewhere on your body, your hickey will likely take longer to heal.
However, if you’re very healthy and have normal iron levels, then your hickey will go away very quickly.
So, if you’re trying to heal a hickey fast, then consuming a healthy diet will flood your body with nutrition and enable the hickey to heal faster, so you can stop looking for the most creative ways to hide the area.
Can hickeys be dangerous?
Hickeys are usually not dangerous, and they’re harmless broken capillaries that need a week or two to heal.
However, if you’ve used vitamin K and other means to heal the area faster, then the area will likely heal in 3–5 days, which is much faster than the usual 1–2 weeks.
Regardless of how long it takes to heal, a hickey is in no way considered dangerous, unless the recipient of one has severe underlying medical conditions.
Giving hickeys is popular in the animal kingdom
According to science and research, hickeys originated in the animal kingdom, and humans weren’t the first to start this “trend.”
During especially rough mating, animals were said to bite and suck the other with such force until a hickey formed on their mate’s skin.
This shouldn’t be very surprising, because animals can sometimes become very wild during mating.
Hickeys and type I herpes
If you suck and bite on your partner’s neck or other body parts during sex and your partner happens to have herpes simplex 1 and an open sore, then you will likely contract herpes, too.
This is why it’s a good idea to know as much as possible about a person before becoming intimate because you don’t want to catch herpes or any other sexually transmitted infections.
As you can see, hickeys are not usually serious, although they can be painful, especially if they’re particularly severe.
However, hickeys almost always go away within a week or two, without leaving a scar or any indication that one ever existed.
So, if you and your lover get carried away during a lovemaking session and you end up with a hickey or two, it’s nothing to panic about and it should be gone soon.