What Happens to Your Body After You Die?

This is a question many people have and few ask out loud. Understanding what happens is part of understanding death. This article explains it plainly. It describes natural processes. Funeral professionals take steps, such as embalming or refrigeration, that change them.

What happens in the first hours?

The body cools, blood settles, and the muscles stiffen. These are the early changes doctors use to estimate time of death. See Rigor Mortis, Livor Mortis, and Algor Mortis for the details.

What are autolysis and putrefaction?

The two main processes of decomposition. The Texas State University Forensic Anthropology Center defines autolysis as breakdown of tissue by the body’s own enzymes, and putrefaction as decomposition by microorganisms. PathologyOutlines describes autolysis as aseptic breakdown of tissues by enzymes released from within cells, and putrefaction as breakdown by bacteria.

What changes can be seen?

Changes to the skin, then swelling. The Texas State handout lists skin slippage, discoloration, and marbling, which PathologyOutlines says is a pattern along blood vessels caused by the breakdown of hemoglobin. Gas causes bloating, and fluid may be released from the body, which the handout calls a purge. Insects colonize the body. PathologyOutlines notes that the brain becomes partly liquefied.

What are mummification and adipocere?

Two modified forms of decomposition. PathologyOutlines says mummification happens in dry environments, when the skin turns yellowish-brown or black and becomes dry and leathery. The Texas State handout describes adipocere as the breakdown of fatty tissue into a greasy, waxy substance in warm, moist conditions without oxygen. For deliberate preservation, see Mummification.

How long does it take to reach bone?

It varies a great deal. PathologyOutlines says skeletonization usually takes several weeks. Lecture notes from Banaras Hindu University say total skeletonization may take as long as a year. They add that destruction of bones ordinarily takes several years. A lecture from Narayana Medical College says acidic soil may cause decay in about 25 to 100 years.

What affects how fast it happens?

The conditions, as the examples above show: dry surroundings lead to mummification, and warm, moist conditions without oxygen lead to adipocere. The Texas State handout outlines a general course, from enzyme changes within hours, to gross breakdown of soft tissue over days to weeks, to bone over weeks to months. The Banaras Hindu University notes caution that the usual order of changes does not always hold. For how scientists study this, see Body Farms, and for a common funeral procedure that changes it, Embalming.