Woman partially paralysed by 'hickey'

The woman was treated at Middlemore Hospital. File photo / Dean Purcell

A Christchurch doctor had to treat a woman who was partially paralysed by a "hickey".

Teddy Whu, who works at Christchurch Hospital's neurology department, said he believed it was the first time someone had been hospitalised by a love-bite, The Press reported.

The woman's case has appeared in the New Zealand Medical Journal, where Dr Whu said he treated the 44-year-old woman over a year ago while working in Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.

The woman experienced loss of movement in her left arm after her former partner gave her a hickey on her neck, near an artery, while watching television.

Dr Whu told The Press there was a clot in the artery underneath the love-bite, which had gone into the woman's heart and caused a minor stroke that led to the loss of movement.

The clot disappeared after within a week of treatment.

- NZPA