What Happens to Your Body After You Die?

There’s no escaping it—death is the one certainty of life.

But what happens to your body in the moments, days, and weeks after your last breath?

The process of decomposition is as fascinating as it is unsettling.

From the moment your heart stops beating, your body embarks on a journey of decay, transformation, and ultimately, recycling.

Though embalming and mummification can slow this natural progression, in most cases, nature takes over almost immediately.

The breakdown starts at the microscopic level, with cells digesting themselves, bacteria multiplying, and insects moving in.

Within weeks, what was once a living, breathing human dissolves into the environment.

Here’s an inside look at what really happens to the human body after death.

Cellular Breakdown Begins

The moment your heart stops, oxygen stops circulating through your body.

Without oxygen, your cells begin to suffocate and die in a process called autolysis, or self-digestion.

Here’s how it plays out in the first few hours:

Within seconds: Brain activity stops, and consciousness is lost.
Within three to seven minutes: Rigor mortis, or muscle stiffening, begins to set in due to calcium buildup.
Within 15–20 minutes: Blood starts pooling in lower parts of the body, creating dark patches known as livor mortis or postmortem lividity.
Within a few hours: Your body’s temperature begins to drop, cooling at a rate of about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit per hour until it matches the surrounding environment.

At this stage, your body still looks like you. But internally, major changes are already underway.

A Body Turns Against Itself

As oxygen runs out, your cells burst open and spill their contents into the surrounding tissues.

Your own digestive enzymes—normally used to break down food—start breaking down your organs.

What happens next?

Skin begins to loosen: The bond between the dermis and epidermis weakens.
Bacteria multiply: With no immune system to fight them off, gut bacteria escape the intestines and spread through the body, accelerating decomposition.
A greenish tinge appears: Especially around the abdomen, as bacteria produce sulfur-rich gases.

By the 24-hour mark, your body has become an all-you-can-eat buffet for microbes.

The Bloating Phase Begins

Here’s where decomposition becomes impossible to ignore.

The bacteria inside your body are now fermenting the tissues, releasing gases like methane, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia.

Effects of this gas buildup:

Abdomen swells dramatically—sometimes to twice its original size.
Skin blisters and peels away as fluids accumulate beneath it.
A strong odor develops, often described as a mix of rotting eggs, decaying meat, and sulfur.

At this stage, insects and scavengers start to arrive.

Blowflies, known for their ability to detect death from miles away, will lay eggs in moist areas like the mouth, nose, and open wounds.

Within hours, maggots hatch and begin feeding.

Liquefaction and Collapse

By the end of the first week, the body is largely unrecognizable. Internal organs begin to liquefy as tissue breaks down.

Fluids seep from openings, and the skin blackens as blood decomposes.

At this stage, external forces can greatly influence the speed of decay:

In warm, humid environments: A body can be reduced to little more than bones in a few weeks.
In cold, dry climates: Decomposition slows significantly.

But there’s something surprising about this phase—and it challenges a common misconception.

Do Bodies Really Rot the Same Way? Not Quite.

It’s often assumed that all human bodies decompose in the same predictable timeline. But new research challenges this idea.

In some conditions—such as underwater burials, extreme cold, or arid environments—bodies can mummify instead of rotting.

In fact, bodies preserved in bogs or deserts can remain intact for centuries, even millennia.

For example, the Tollund Man, a 2,400-year-old body found in a Danish bog, was so well-preserved that scientists could analyze his last meal.

Even his facial features remained intact.

So, while most bodies break down in weeks, some are naturally preserved against all odds.

Insects Take Over

By this time, maggots have done their work.

A typical human body can host tens of thousands of maggots, each consuming flesh at an astonishing rate.

Bones begin to emerge as soft tissues disintegrate.
Hair may remain intact—it takes longer to break down than flesh.
Scavengers like rats and crows may carry away smaller bones.

A fully exposed body left in nature can skeletonize within a month. However, clothing or burial can slow this process significantly.

Skeletonization and Soil Enrichment

After soft tissue disappears, bones remain. These can last for years, slowly breaking down into minerals that enrich the soil.

Tendons and cartilage are among the last soft tissues to degrade.
Teeth and bones persist for decades, or even centuries in some cases.
Grave wax (adipocere)—a waxy, soap-like substance—can form on bodies buried in damp environments, preserving them longer.

Eventually, nothing remains but minerals absorbed into the earth.