A hickey is a bruise, and like all bruises, it needs time to heal. Most hickeys fade completely within one to two weeks. You can’t make one vanish overnight, but a combination of cold therapy, warm compresses, and smart concealing can significantly speed up the process and keep it hidden in the meantime.
What’s Actually Happening Under Your Skin
A hickey forms when suction breaks tiny blood vessels (capillaries) just beneath the skin’s surface. Blood leaks out and pools in the surrounding tissue, creating that familiar red or purple mark. Over the next several days, your body gradually breaks down and reabsorbs the trapped blood. The color shifts from dark red or purple to blue, then greenish-yellow, then fades entirely. Understanding this timeline matters because the most effective treatment changes depending on what stage you’re in.
First 48 Hours: Cold Therapy
In the first day or two, your goal is to limit how much blood pools under the skin. Applying something cold constricts the damaged blood vessels and slows further leaking. Wrap an ice pack, a bag of frozen peas, or even a cold spoon in a thin cloth and press it against the hickey for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. Repeat this several times a day with breaks in between to avoid irritating your skin.
Don’t press ice directly against bare skin, as that can cause a mild cold burn on top of the bruise you’re already dealing with.
After 48 Hours: Switch to Warmth
Once the initial two days have passed, cold stops being useful. At this point, the blood has already pooled, and your body needs to clear it away. Warm compresses increase blood flow to the area, which helps your body reabsorb the trapped blood faster. Use a warm washcloth or a microwaveable heat pack for 10 to 15 minutes, several times a day. Gentle circular massage with your fingers while applying warmth can also encourage circulation to the area.
What to Avoid
The internet is full of supposed hickey hacks, and most of them either don’t work or make things worse. Dermatologist Dr. Vij at the Cleveland Clinic is blunt about this: scraping a hickey with a fork, coin, or toothbrush, or rubbing toothpaste on it, has no real science behind it. These methods are too superficial to affect the bruise underneath. Worse, they can cause scratches, bleeding, additional discoloration, and even scarring, making the mark more noticeable rather than less.
You should also avoid aspirin and ibuprofen in the first day or two after getting a hickey. Aspirin reduces your blood’s ability to clot by preventing platelets from clumping together. That’s helpful for heart health, but it works against you here. It can make below-the-skin bleeding worse, potentially making the hickey larger or darker. If you need pain relief, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a better choice since it doesn’t affect clotting.
Supplements That May Help
Bromelain, a group of enzymes found naturally in pineapple, has anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce bruising. You can find bromelain supplements at most pharmacies and health food stores. Some people also increase their vitamin C intake during bruise healing, since vitamin C supports the repair of blood vessel walls. Neither of these is a miracle fix, but they can support what your body is already doing.
Topical creams containing vitamin K or arnica are another common recommendation. Vitamin K plays a role in blood clotting, and arnica has a long history of use for bruise-related swelling. Look for these at any drugstore and apply them directly to the hickey a few times a day.
Concealing a Hickey While It Heals
If you need the hickey invisible right now, makeup is your most reliable option. The key is color correction: using a concealer shade that neutralizes the specific color of your bruise before layering skin-toned concealer on top.
- Red or fresh hickey: Use a green color corrector to tone down the redness.
- Purple or deep bruise: Apply an orange corrector to counteract the purple tones.
- Blue or fading bruise: A yellow corrector works best to mellow out blue discoloration.
Dab the color corrector directly onto the hickey, blend it gently, then layer your regular concealer and foundation over the top. Setting it with a translucent powder helps it last through the day. A turtleneck, scarf, or strategically placed bandage works in a pinch, but color-correcting makeup gives you the most natural-looking coverage.
Realistic Timeline for Healing
Even with consistent cold and warm compress treatments, most hickeys take five to twelve days to fully disappear. Lighter hickeys on people with faster circulation may fade in under a week. Deeper, darker marks on areas with thinner skin (like the neck) tend to linger closer to two weeks. Your individual healing speed depends on factors like how much blood leaked, your overall circulation, and your skin tone, since hickeys remain visible longer on lighter skin simply because of the contrast.
There’s no way to make a hickey disappear within hours. But combining cold therapy early on, warm compresses after the first two days, and good color-correcting concealer can cut the visible timeline roughly in half and keep you covered while your body does the rest.