What is a bruise exactly?

A bruise, also called a contusion (pronounced: kun-TOO-zhen), happens when a part of the body is injured and blood from the damaged capillaries (small blood vessels leaks out. With no place to go, the blood gets trapped under the skin, forming a red or purplish mark that's tender when you touch it — a bruise.

Bruises may be serious, and require medical care when bruising: Has not improved at all, or has gotten much worse, after a week. There could be a larger accumulation of blood, called a hematoma, under the skin. In some cases, a hematoma will need medical care or may clear up on its own.

The white blood cells then release more substances that cause the swelling and redness known as inflammation. Inflammation is what makes the bruise hurt so dang much. The redness and swelling are from the increased blood flow that occur to speed the healing.

Don't massage or rub the injury because you can break more blood vessels in the process. Instead, give yourself time for the pain and swelling to subside and apply ice immediately and as needed.

Hickeys form when the tiny blood vessels under your skin are broken, leaving a noticeable bruise. Hickeys can last anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks. So if you're trying to hide one, you may spend a long time in turtlenecks or touching up the area with concealer. But there are a few ways to speed up the healing process.

Hickeys are simply bruises that form when someone sucks or lightly bites on the surface of another person's skin. Typically, hickeys are given on delicate areas of your skin, like on your neck, during foreplay or as a way of marking a love interest.

A hickey is a bruise that forms when a person sucks and lightly bites an area on another person's body, causing the blood vessels under the skin to break. While some people enjoy giving or getting hickeys, other people may find them painful.

Dr. Jaber says that the hickey itself isn't really what leads to you or your bae being turned on. But it's more the process of getting there. "It's not the hickey itself that's making you aroused, it's the act of kissing that's causing the arousal," Dr.

A hickey is formed by sucking on the skin, which creates a vacuum. The vacuum is strong enough to break capillaries in your skin, causing a (generally) painless bruise. The 'pleasure' from a hickey is your own emotional response to having someone you're (hopefully) attracted to doing something you enjoy.

Hickeys are basically just broken blood vessels caused by sucking, which results in a bruise. Hickeys are most likely to occur on softer, more sensitive skin like the neck, shoulders, chest.

When breaking down the science behind why whisking helps remove hickeys, Dr. Chan said, "A hickey is a bruise, which is just old blood under the skin. So...by 'whisking' it, you are kinda breaking up and spreading the blood around. You can't make the blood go away completely, but it'll look less pronounced."

So, no, don't rub or brush a hickey to "redistribute the blood" — that can actually make it worse. Ice or cold compresses won't do anything to change the final color of your hickey either, but it can help reduce swelling or redness at first, says Herschenfeld.