Modern science has since identified why aloe works: it's approximately 95% water combined with a complex mixture of polysaccharides (notably acemannan), vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes. But the ancient Egyptians didn't need gas chromatography to know that aloe soothed burns, hydrated dry skin, and helped wounds heal faster. They simply observed results.

Your skin repairs itself constantly. Every wound that heals, every bit of damage that fades, every morning you wake up with smoother skin than the night before—fibroblasts are doing that work.

Within 24 hours, the itching and burning sensations subsided. Over the following weeks, the skin began regenerating. By five weeks, normal skin sensation was restored. Most significantly, after three months, the forehead pigmented normally when exposed to sunshine—matching the rest of her healthy skin. No scar formation occurred.

For thousands of years, healers noticed that aloe vera helped wounds heal faster, calmed inflamed skin, and supported overall skin health. They documented these effects carefully—from the Papyrus Ebers to Dioscorides' De Materia Medica—but couldn't explain why aloe worked.