Embalming can also bring closure for families who lost a loved one in traumatic circumstances and did not get the chance to say goodbye before they died. There are specialist embalmers that perform post-mortem surgery upon people who suffered devastating injuries in fatal accidents.
Many funeral directors have the skills to carry out embalming, or can arrange for an embalmer to do so at your chosen funeral home. Embalming temporarily delays the first stages of decomposition, which begin to break down our body tissues from the moment that we die.
It can also seem to restore our physical appearance. The embalming process involves draining and replacing body fluids which are no longer circulating around the body, with a mixture of preserving chemicals. Embalming solutions are commonly a mixture of chemicals including formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, ethanol and phenol, as well as water and colourants that reduce pallor and restore the appearance of the skin.
Although the Ancient Egyptians removed and preserved the vital organs during embalming, this is not the case today. Unless the person who died was an organ donor , they will be embalmed with their organs inside their body. When someone has a post-mortem to identify their cause of death, the organs are removed and weighed.
They are replaced inside the body cavity, before it leaves the mortuary. There are two main types of embalming: arterial embalming and cavity embalming. The process usually takes between two and four hours. Arterial embalming sees the blood removed via the veins and replaced with embalming fluids via the arteries. Tubes are inserted into the body and attached to a machine, which pumps the embalming fluid in through the jugular vein in the neck or femoral vein in the leg, causing the natural body fluids to be circulated around the body.
A tube is inserted via a small incision and te fluids are removed with a suction machine. These fluids are then replaced by embalming solution and the small incision is closed. Before a body is embalmed, it is carefully washed and then washed again after the procedure.
During embalming it is massaged, to help work the preserving fluids through the body. The jaw is sutured with invisible stitches to keep it in place, while caps placed under the eyelids help keep them closed. Cosmetics are used to enhance a natural appearance and are formulated to be used by funeral directors in their care of the deceased.
Post-mortem surgery , for instance, is a highly expert reconstructive embalming skill, carried out following traumatic deaths such as road accidents.
In cases when it would otherwise be too distressing to view — or perhaps even recognise — a loved one due to their injuries, top embalmers work to reconstruct the features of the person who has died. As your Funeral Director, this is fundamental to what we do. At Dignity, we understand that respect is a compulsory obligation placed upon us by you.
We acknowledge that identification is a concern for you. We recognise that compassion is of paramount importance to you and your family when you are with us and also when we work on your behalf when you are not. Our employees in Dignity Care Centres are dedicated to providing the highest standards of professionalism whilst looking after your relative.
Care of deceased is something your Funeral Director will discuss with you. We realise that, from time to time, the circumstances of death may present challenges in fulfilling expectations of having an open coffin in the Chapel of Rest. We shall, however, endeavour to ensure your wishes are adhered to where it is within our control to do so. There will, however, be circumstances where for various reasons beyond our control e.
We may also revisit the subject of embalming with you if we determine your decision to omit embalming from our services will impact on any further aspect of the funeral, for example an open coffin attendance or a Church service. This is not financially motivated but rather to support you in what you have asked us to provide.
Your Funeral Director will discuss this with you if necessary. In a living person, the bacteria within the human body that support life are contained where they perform best by the internal life processes of the body. If they are inadvertently transferred to other parts of the body, their functions can become impaired or create a reaction that can make a person ill. The time these changes take to become apparent is subject to influence by many factors, for example:.
When talking to your Funeral Director, you may hear words such as presentation, preservation and sanitation. We hope this information helps you understand these terms and the underlying reasons for any advice we may offer. This does not affect whether we can support you with embalming. In its simplest form, this is the introduction of a disinfectant solution to the internal environment of the body.
In life, the body is nourished by nutrients via the bloodstream. In order to accomplish this, the arterial system is required to reach virtually every individual tissue contained within it. It is therefore easy to understand that a disinfectant solution injected into the bloodstream after death will be distributed around the body and reduce the activity of bacteria and pathogens within it.
The different disinfectant solutions used comprise a number of constituents designed to combat the effects of disease and are specialist combinations used solely for embalming purposes.
Your local Dignity Funeral Director will be able to talk to you about embalming in more detail and advise you on whether it is the right choice for you and your loved one. The embalming process typically takes two hours to complete, however this includes washing and drying the hair and body of the deceased.
This time may increase if the cause of death has affected the body in any way. There is no definitive answer to this question. Various factors may restrict this, for example the condition of the body or the length of time between the deceased being brought into our care and the time of death. Under normal circumstances, we would not expect this to affect your funeral arrangements , however, your Funeral Director will inform you if there is any aspect you should be made aware of.
If the jaw is sewn shut, suture string is threaded through the lower jaw below the gums, up and through the gums of the top front teeth, into the right or left nostril, through the septum, into the other nostril, and back down into the mouth. Then the two ends of suture string are tied together. If the jaw is wired shut, a tool called a needle injector is often used to insert a piece of wire anchored to a needle into the upper and lower jaws.
The wires are tied together to securely close the mouth. Once the jaw has been secured, the mouth can be manipulated into the desired arrangement. For arterial embalming, the blood is removed from the body via the veins and replaced with an embalming solution via the arteries.
The embalming solution is usually a combination of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, ethanol, phenol, and water, and may also contain dyes in order to simulate a life-like skin-tone.
For cavity embalming, a small incision is made near the bellybutton and a sharp surgical instrument used for drainage, called a trocar, is inserted into the body cavity. Using the trocar, organs in the chest cavity and abdomen are punctured and drained of gas and fluid contents and then replaced with formaldehyde-based chemical mixtures.
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