Hickeys or love bites, often worn and flaunted as a playful badge of love, but sometimes they hold more risk than you'd expect. Hickeys are small bruises (suction purpura) caused by strong, prolonged kissing or suction, most often on the neck. Hickeys are superficial bruises, which means they are on the surface of your skin. These types of bruises usually don't take as long to heal as deeper bruises like black eyes. Although there is... Know what a hickey is. A hickey, also known as a "love bite" or "kiss mark" is essentially a bruise caused by sucking or aggressively kissing another person's skin. It is initially red in color, due to broken blood vessels beneath the skin. It will later turn purple or dark brown as it heals. [1] Hickeys are dark red or purple bruises on the skin caused by light biting or sucking by another person. The suction can result in the blood vessels under the skin breaking, bleeding, and swelling.
