[dllthomas]

My point was merely that "basic physics" doesn't tell us much here. You have to know that it's really inflammation that you're treating. You have to assume that cooling is the only contribution of the aloe (clearly, cooling isn't the only thing that can treat inflammation).

I mean, I know what's recommended as basic first aid for burns, and maybe that's common knowledge. The why of it, in enough detail, almost certainly isn't. Note also that aloe is quite commonly recommended as a part of "basic first aid for burns in general" following cooling.