Embalming is a service offered by funeral homes to help preserve your loved one’s body for a period of time. While it is not strictly required for all viewing, the embalming process does make the deceased look a little more normal. A little more how you’re used to seeing them.
What Does It Mean To Be Embalmed?
When a person is embalmed, the body’s own circulatory system is used to replace fluids. A chemical solution acts as a deterrent to the natural decomposition processes. It also helps the deceased appear more lifelike. Embalming can make an embalmed body last for weeks. And sometimes, under the right conditions, the body can even last for years.
Why Do We Embalm Bodies?
The modern practice of embalming bodies began during the American Civil War. Soldiers died far from home but their families wanted to bury them locally. So the long transportation time facilitated the embalming practice.
Today, we embalm bodies for similar, practical reasons. The most common are:
- If the body is transported from one state to another, it generally is embalmed first. This is especially true when transporting the body to another country.
- When a family chooses an open casket during a funeral service, embalming helps the body look more “normal” for viewing.
- A person’s religious or spiritual belief may lead them to choose embalming to preserve the body for a longer period.
- Embalming allows the funeral director to reverse some natural effects of dying due to prolonged illness or injury.
- State laws may require embalming for some types of viewing.
When Did Embalming Start?
Natives of Chile and Peru are said to have used mummification processes as early as 5,000 to 6,000 BC.
Egyptians began the practice of embalming bodies around 3,200 BC. They believed that a whole, intact body was required for resurrection and eternal life.
Today, the Pharaoh Tutankhamun is our most notable example of this Egyptian practice. He was embalmed in 1,323 BC and the method of his burial helped to preserve his body long beyond regular circumstances.
Tutankhamun’s embalmed and mummified body resided within three coffins AND a sarcophagus (stone container). Furthermore, his burial pyramid kept his burial site free from most of nature’s deteriorating factors.
While this is an extreme example of how long a body can last after embalming, it doesn’t hold much resemblance to what most of us can expect.
What Does An Embalmed Body Look Like After 10 Years?
In more recent history, Medgar Evers, a black Civil Rights leaders was shot and killed in 1963 in Jacksonville, Mississippi. In 1991, his body was exhumed from Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia in order to undergo a second autopsy. The findings would aid prosecutors in a new trial against his murderer. Mr. Evers body was found to be in near perfect condition.
Two reasons account for how well Mr. Evers’ body was preserved after 28 years of burial. First is that his gravesite is on a hillside in the cemetery, so rain water ran down the hill rather than staying pooled.
The second reason is that the original funeral director used three times the normal amount of embalming fluid. He did so because of Mississippi’s hot weather and the fact that the funeral home didn’t have air conditioning or refrigeration. He also wanted Mr. Ever’s to look as good as possible for his very public funeral service.
In other cases where bodies have been exhumed after 10-17 years, the bodies have also shown to be in very good condition. Dr. Michael Baden performed the second autopsy on Mr. Evers. You can read more about his findings here, but it may be more graphic information than is necessary.
Do You Have To Be Embalmed?
One question that funeral directors get a lot is whether or not you have to be embalmed. The answer isn’t always cut and dry. Instead, it usually depends on the circumstances.
Most states require embalming for funeral services with an open casket. This requirement protects the public from any bacteria or infection, which may be associated with the body.
Embalming is an additional service that funeral homes provide. However, washing and dressing of the deceased happens in most cases, with or without embalming.
When my own mother died (at home, from cancer), the funeral home washed and dressed her. They then gave her a bit of makeup and styled her hair before calling my dad, sisters and I to view her. She was not embalmed, since we chose cremation. But the five of us were able to spend some time with her to say our farewells.
So a body does not necessarily have to be embalmed for a short, immediate family viewing. Your funeral director can advise you of the requirements in your state, so be sure to ask for their guidance. He or she will also know the specifics of your situation and may suggest embalming for other reasons.
What Are The Most Common Reasons For Choosing Embalming?
As I mentioned, some states have laws directing embalming for open casket viewing. But there are other reasons your funeral director may suggest it for your loved one. They want you to view your loved one and to obtain some peace from that viewing. Sometimes embalming is the best way to restore a more normal appearance.
Some reasons your funeral director may suggest embalming are:
- The cause of death.
- Medication the person received. For instance, some chemotherapy drugs ravage a person’s appearance. So embalming can help them appear similar to your memory of them.
- How long a time period between death and when the body is brought to the funeral home.
- Weather and other environmental conditions that affect the natural decomposition time frame.
- A prolonged time period before the funeral service can occur.
- Provide time for family members to travel to the deceased’s funeral.
- Sometimes embalming occurs to help preserve a body that is donated to science.
What Happens To Your Body Over Time Inside The Casket?
Science Insider created a very instructive tutorial about what happens to our bodies once buried. It takes the process out to 100 years and explains in easy-to-follow detail. Take a moment to watch this short video.
What Happens If A Body Is Not Embalmed?
Whether or not a body is embalmed, it is generally still washed and dressed. The body is stored in a refrigerated, shelved room. The cold temperature slows the body’s natural deterioration process while awaiting the necessary paperwork for burial or cremation.
Some religions, like Judaism and Muslim, don’t allow embalming. And since their funerals usually happen within 24 hours, it isn’t necessary anyway.
Other times, families prefer not to choose embalming, like when the decedent has asked for a green funeral. Some natural burial grounds prohibit the use of embalming fluids in their cemeteries. So forgoing embalming is the best route.
How Long Does A Refrigerated Body Last?
Funeral homes must refrigerate the body within 24 hours of acceptance, but then will keep it refrigerated as long as is necessary. Most services are completed within a couple weeks of death. But occasionally, extenuating services can extend the time frame.
While the body will last in cold storage for longer periods, it is not recommended to view an unembalmed body after more than a couple of days of refrigeration. In fact, some states stipulate the number of days that viewing is permitted.
What If You’re Not Sure You Want to View The Body?
As in all things related to death, you are free to choose what works best for you and your family. You alone know the specific circumstances. Guidance from your funeral director is helpful, but ultimately the decisions are up to you.
If you’re not sure you want to view the body, I suggest that you ask only to see your loved one’s hands. A brain to heart connection is made during viewing that helps you in the grieving process.
Yes, viewing your loved one may cause strong feelings of sadness or even anguish. But these feelings are usually temporary.
However, not seeing the body sometimes creates questions in your mind. “Maybe it wasn’t really him.” “Maybe they got it wrong and Dad is still alive.” These questions are calmed and quieted upon viewing.
So I always suggest a viewing, even if it is only your departed’s hands. Our natural inclination is to bargain away from death. We want to deny its intrusion into our lives.
Viewing helps to ease those concerns. And embalming can help the funeral home to present your loved one to you in the best light possible. Discuss it with your funeral director and understand that he or she isn’t just trying to get you to pay more. They want to
