Clots that form in the deep veins of your legs, arms or torso can become lodged in the lungs, a dangerous situation called pulmonary embolism. The odds of dying from a hickey-induced blood clot are vanishingly small. But venous blood clots kill more people than breast cancer, car crashes, and AIDS combined each year.

Can you really die from a hickey?

It's not very likely, but a handful of serious injuries have happened after hickeys. For example, a New Zealand woman got a hickey and became partially paralyzed. Emergency room doctors found a clot in their brain and treated them for a stroke.

What is so bad about hickeys?

Is that true? No, hickeys don't cause cancer, and they aren't dangerous. 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.