It’s normal to wonder what will happen when you die. From a physical standpoint, death is when the body's vital functions stop, including breathing (respiration), heartbeats, and, brain activity.
The actual moment of death is part of the process of dying during which all these functions shut down. Sometimes, it happens gradually and sometimes it happens very quickly.
After death, the body starts to undergo changes as its temperature drops. The skin color and texture look and feel different, and the muscles relax, stiffen, and then relax again.
What Happens at the Moment of Death?
By definition, death is when blood (circulatory) and breathing (respiratory) stop and cannot be brought back, or brain death (when the brain/brain stem stops working) occurs.
The determination of death must be made according to accepted medical standards.
The moment of death is not necessarily painful. While people with certain medical conditions may feel pain at the end of life, others die without any pain.
Often, people with terminal conditions like cancer get pain medication so they are comfortable during the dying process.
The moment of death is often thought of as the moment when the heartbeat and breathing stop. However, research is showing that death may not be that immediate.
The brain is thought to keep “working” for 10 minutes or so after death, meaning that a person’s mind may have some kind of awareness of dying.
In a hospital, there are a few criteria that healthcare providers use to declare death including:
- No pulse
- No breathing
- No reflexes
- No reaction from pupils to bright light
In a setting like an ER or ambulance, paramedics look for the five signs of irreversible death to determine if resuscitation, or revival, would be possible or not.
What Happens One Hour After Death?
At the moment of death, all of the muscles in the body relax (primary flaccidity). The eyelids lose their tension, the pupils dilate, the jaw may fall open, and the joints and limbs are flexible.
With the loss of tension in the muscles, the skin will sag, which can cause prominent joints and bones in the body, such as the jaw or hips, to stick out more.
What Happens One Hour After Death?
At the moment of death, all of the muscles in the body relax (primary flaccidity). The eyelids lose their tension, the pupils dilate, the jaw may fall open, and the joints and limbs are flexible.
With the loss of tension in the muscles, the skin will sag, which can cause prominent joints and bones in the body, such as the jaw or hips, to stick out more.
As muscles relax, sphincters release and allow urine and feces to pass.
Within minutes of the heart stopping, the body will get pale as the blood drains from the smaller veins in the skin (pallor mortis). This process can be more visible in people with light skin compared to darker skin.
The body starts to cool from its normal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit until it reaches the air temperature around it.
The “death chill” (algor mortis) is when the body temperature falls at a steady rate of 1.5 degrees F per hour.
The expected decrease in body temperature during algor mortis can help forensic scientists get the approximate time of death, assuming the body has not completely cooled or been exposed to extreme environmental temperatures.4
What Happens 2 to 6 Hours After Death?
Since the heart no longer pumps blood, gravity begins to pull it to the areas of the body closest to the ground (pooling), a process called livor mortis.4
If the body is not disturbed for several hours, the parts of the body that are nearest the ground can develop a reddish-purple discoloration that looks like a bruise. It’s caused by the accumulation of blood.5 Embalmers sometimes call it the "postmortem stain."
From 2 to 6 hours after death, chemical changes in the body's cells cause all muscles to stiffen (rigor mortis). The first muscles affected are the eyelids, jaw, and neck.6
Over the next several hours, rigor mortis spreads to the face and down the chest, abdomen, arms, and legs until it finally reaches the fingers and toes.
Interestingly, the old custom of placing coins on the eyelids of the deceased might have originated from the desire to keep the eyes shut, since rigor mortis affects them first.
When infants and young children die, it is not unusual for their bodies to not display rigor mortis, possibly because of their smaller muscle mass.
What Happens 7 to 12 Hours After Death?
Maximum muscle stiffness from rigor mortis in the body occurs after about 12 hours. However, this timeline will be affected by a person's age, physical condition, sex, air temperature, and other factors.
At this point, the deceased's limbs are hard to move. The knees and elbows will be slightly flexed, and the fingers and toes can look unusually crooked.
What Happens 12 Hours After Death?
After reaching a state of maximum rigor mortis, the muscles start to loosen because of the continued chemical changes in the cells and internal tissue decay.
The process (secondary flaccidity) takes place over one to three days and is affected by external conditions such as temperature (for example, cold slows the process).7
During secondary flaccidity, the skin shrinks and creates the illusion that the deceased’s hair and nails are growing. Rigor mortis starts to disappear going in the opposite direction—from the fingers and toes to the face—over 48 hours.
Once secondary flaccidity is done, the body's muscles will relax again.
Summary
The process of dying is natural and follows several steps. You might be curious about what will happen to your body after you die or you might prefer not to think about it. Whether you want to learn about what physically happens to the body after death is up to you.
Here is a brief summary of the changes that happen in the body in the hours and days after death:
One hour: Relaxation of muscles (primary flaccidity) starts right away, followed by the skin becoming pale
Two to six hours: Muscles begin to stiffen (rigor mortis)
Seven to 12 hours: Muscle stiffness peaks (rigor mortis is complete)
12 hours: The muscles start to relax again (secondary flaccidity) and the process will take 1 to 3 days
What part of your body dies first?
At the end of life, organs shut down at different rates. For instance, the lungs typically cease working before the heart stops completely.
In some people, the brainstem stops functioning before other organs. This is known as brain death. However, research suggests some brain functions may continue up to 10 minutes after death
How long does a body stay warm after death?
The body begins to get colder immediately, but body temperature drops slowly, at 1.5 degrees F per hour.
What is the last part of the body to die?
The brain and nerve cells require a constant supply of oxygen and will die within a few minutes, once you stop breathing. The next to go will be the heart, followed by the liver, then the kidneys and pancreas, which can last for about an hour. Skin, tendons, heart valves and corneas will still be alive after a day.
For the first few minutes of the postmortem period, brain cells may survive. The heart can keep beating without its blood supply. A healthy liver continues breaking down alcohol. And if a technician strikes your thigh above the kneecap, your leg likely kicks, just as it did at your last reflex test with a physician.
As the blood pools, patches appear on the skin within 30 minutes of death. About two to four hours postmortem, these patches join up, creating large dark purplish areas towards the bottom of the body and lightening the skin elsewhere. This may be less apparent on darker skin. This process is called livor mortis.
Once your brain stops functioning, it is of course impossible to hear things. However, if your heart stops first your brain may still be able to function for a brief period of time before running out of oxygen. During this period you could most likely still hear.
What happens 2 minutes before death?
Facial muscles may relax and the jaw can drop. Skin can become very pale. Breathing can alternate between loud rasping breaths and quiet breathing. Towards the end, dying people will often only breathe periodically, with an intake of breath followed by no breath for several seconds.
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Note the eyes fails to detect light soon after death, but the Corona would be alive for almost a day.
