Can A Passionate Hickey, A Love Mark, Kill You?

A 17-year-old boy from Mexico City died after having convulsions while eating dinner with his family. He was immediately treated by emergency medical services but unfortunately died. It is reported that a hickey or a love bite he received from his girlfriend caused a blood clot that led to a deadly stroke.

The local media reports indicate that the doctors think that the suction effect of the love bite caused a sudden blood clot. This moved around to his brain and led to a fatal stroke. Currently, there is no certain evidence that the hickey in question triggered the stroke.

Charles Abrams, president of the American Society of hematology and a hematologist at the University of Pennsylvania explained that it is not impossible that a hickey could cause a blood clot that leads to stroke, but it's incredibly unlikely. He further explained that it could happen if a person's blood vessels are torn during the chomp. "But I think that would be pretty hard to do."

Meanwhile, Robert Glatter, an emergency room physician at Lenox hill Hospital in New York City stated that in order to damage an artery that badly so as to cause a blood clot, it would have to be the "mother of all hickeys." "It's possible this could happen, but it's very rare, and parents should be reassured it's not something that happens in a routine way."

Glatter further said that any sudden motion of the neck involving a vigorous cough or sneezing, or even aggressive manipulation by a chiropractor could lead to a carotid artery dissection. He added that this is basically how a hickey could lead to a stroke.

The IFL Science reported the same incident when a 44-year-old woman from New Zealand suffered a loss of movement in her left arm after getting the hickey. She was brought to a hospital and found that she had a bruise on her neck caused by hickey. This led to a blood clot and caused the minor stroke. The woman was treated with blood thinners and recovered.