A love bite, also known as a hickey or hickie, is essentially a bruise caused by kissing or sucking on the skin. These marks most often appear on the neck, arm, or earlobe.
Understanding Love Bites
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
- Cause: Love bites are created when sucking action causes small blood vessels (capillaries) beneath the skin to burst. This leads to blood leaking into the surrounding tissue, creating the telltale discoloration.
- Appearance: They typically look like a red or purplish bruise. The color may change over time as the body reabsorbs the leaked blood.
- Location: While love bites can occur anywhere, they're most common on the neck, arm, and earlobe due to these areas being easily accessible and having thinner skin.
- How it Happens: While biting can be part of creating a love bite, it’s usually the suction that causes the bruising.
Common Terms
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Love bite | A colloquial term, mainly used in British English, to refer to a hickey. |
Hickey | A more common term for the bruise-like mark. |
Hickie | Another spelling variant for hickey, all referring to the same skin mark. |
Key Takeaways
- Love bites are essentially bruises.
- They're caused by suction that bursts small blood vessels.
- They most often appear on the neck, arms, and earlobes.
- Biting may sometimes contribute, but sucking is the main culprit.