The next time you feel amorous and want to cover your partner’s neck in red bruises called lovebites or hickeys, you should probably take a minute and think about it.
Recently, as the Mirror reported, a 17-year-old, Julio Macias Gonzalez from Mexico lost his life after he was given a lovebite by his girlfriend. After spending the evening with his 24-year-old girlfriend he went into convulsions at the dinner table in front of his family. Though paramedics arrived at the scene, they could not save the teenager.
It is believed that the suction force of the lovebite caused a blood clot which then travelled to his brain and caused a stroke. His grieving family has blamed his girlfriend for his death who has gone missing.
In light of recent, almost fatal accidents caused by hickeys, it’s probably necessary to know the downside of the gnawing action which is supposed to be romantic.
Though these painful looking bruises are proof of a good romp in the sack, they are just bruises caused by strong sucking action on parts of the body, commonly the neck. There are tiny blood cells known as capillaries just beneath the skin’s surface which get ruptured when you get a love bite and cause a bruise.
In rare but extreme cases, the suction can be bad enough to form a blood clot which can travel to your brain and cause a stroke.
In another case, a 44 year old woman in New Zealand was hospitalised after she couldn’t feel or move her left arm. At first the doctors could not figure out the cause, but then noticed bruising on her neck near a major artery. According to Metro, she was left partially paralysed after a blood clot caused by the hickey travelled to her heart. She was treated with an anticoagulent and recovered fully.
This does not mean that all lovebites are fatal, but extreme sucking action can be harmful. Medical experts say that medical history doesn’t really have any cases of fatal harm by lovebites apart from these two cases.
All said, giving people purpley bruises might not be the most romantic thing ever.