Why do dead people's faces look different when they're dead?!


Question: Why do dead people's faces look different when they're dead!?
last week was the first wake i've went to in many years!. it was a friend of mine who got shot!. well, i went to say my last goodbyes to him before they closed the coffin and he didn't look right!. i started flipping out!. i kept on saying to myself that it wasn't him!. his face was flat and a lot wider!. it didn't look like him!? my homie said it could be that he has been in a freezer for a while!. is that why!? he just didn't look right!. now i have this memory of him that i don't like!. of how he looked dead!. i shouldn't have gone up in the first place!. it's been bothering me since!.Www@Answer-Health@Com


Answers:
First of all I want to offer my condolences!. Seeing a loved one that has passed away can be very traumatic, and often times your brain tries to look for ways to reject this idea, even to the point of noticing the differences between the person you see lying in the coffin, and the person you knew in life!. This is a natural part of the grieving process, and although it upset you, you should recognize it for what it is - you missing your friend and wishing he were still alive!.

That being said, there are many reasons why your friend might have looked different from what you remember!. After a person passes, the first thing that happens is that all the muscles in the body relax and release!. Basically, if your friend was a very animated person, the features you associated with him (his broad smile, the squint in his eye, the dimple in his cheek) will all smooth away!. This is followed within the next 3 hours by rigor mortis, which freezes the body in this new position, and can cause sometimes unsettling muscle clenches that can change the way a person might normally look!. If he was laid on his back, gravity will work to basically push everything back (giving him the appearance of perhaps a wider face!. Embalming removes all the blood from his system, so he may appear a lot paler than you are used to!.

Finally, depending on the funeral home, they may have applied makeup to his face to make it easier to look upon him, and some even go as far as to "set" the facial features to make them seem more peaceful!. This is an attempt to ease the viewers of the body, but sometimes it can have the opposite effect!.

I hope my answer helps, and that you can put the image of your friend from your mind and focus instead on your memories of him while he was alive!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

I have been to many funerals!. none are easy!. my condolences for your loss!.
The reason for the different look depends upon the funeral home!. How they preserve him, and the make up that they use!.
I am sure they did their best to represent him!.
It a good thing that you were there!.
I admire that!.
Sometimes dealing with the loss of someone you care about
need family support, or friendsWww@Answer-Health@Com

When things are frozen they expand, I'd imagine that was what had happened to all the liquid that remained after the embalming process or even the bones!. Also the skin tends to tighten over time that could also be a contributing factor!.

Sorry for your loss!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

It could be from when they drained all of the blood and body fluids out to embalmed him!. Maybe it was due to the trauma that was inflicted on him!.

When my father died, he looked pretty much like what he normally did!.

I am not sure!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

its probably because of the embalming and because all of the blood was drained out!. if he had a purplish tint to him, it was probably becuase of the freezer!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

Hey Thel!.!.!.!. News flash for you, buddy!. Heat makes things expand, cold constricts!. So if he was in the freezer, the cells, bones, fluid etc!. would get smaller!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

Hey Craig, he's not there any more!. He's done using his face - it will look different!. Sorry about your loss man!.

Hugs!.!.!.Www@Answer-Health@Com

that's why I have NEVER looked at anyone in their coffin at a funeral!. I have had friends and family that have needed to look at them in order to say goodbye!. I don't know why, this is one thing that I will probably never understand!. I don't want to remember them like that and I think it will make me sick!. I want to remember them how they were alive!.

Being that I have never seen anyone in their coffin, I don't know why they look different!. There are probably different reasons!. First off, since they don't have oxygen in their system anyone, also blood stops flowing, things like that!. As for anything done to the body, I think they just use embalming fluid, but that's supposed to preserve their natural appearance so maybe they didn't use any for your friend!. I don't think they really put people in freezers, they probably just do that in movies!. Or it could have happened at his death!. Maybe deformities from the shot wound!.

I haven't been to an open casket funeral for awhile though, I'm surprised your friend's was like that!. I thought that was more of an old school thing!. I'm sorry for you loss though, & wish you the best!.Www@Answer-Health@Com





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