According to research 9 in 10 UK women experience pain or discomfort when wearing high heels and leave £190 worth of unworn shoes at the back of their wardrobes!!!

It’s a well-known fact that women have an irrational love of shoes, happily buying a new pair without a second thought for their bulging wardrobes at home.  Research released by the makers of footcare brand COMPEED®, reveals that UK women own on average 25 pairs of shoes, but on average a quarter are never worn because of pain or discomfort such as blisters, corns and bunions.  In fact according to the survey, on average a British woman could have £190 worth of shunned shoes in her wardrobe – that’s as much as £3.3 billion* worth of shoes lying abandoned across the UK.

Despite the fact that 93% of British women experience pain when wearing high heels, it doesn’t seem to curb our spending – the survey revealed that we spend an average of £608 a year on their footwear.

From planned purchases to spontaneous splurges it’s clear that shoes top women’s list of priorities, especially during  the sales season with four in ten of us admitting we snap up ‘bargains’ in the spring and summer sales.

So why is it, that we’re happy to spend excessively on unwearable shoes, that gather dust in the back of the wardrobe?

Psychologist Emma Kenny, commenting on the study, says: “Women buy high heels because they make them feel confident and sexy.  Confidence is something we all aspire to.  It makes us feel happy, full of direction and in control of our lives; so it makes sense that we invest in things that aid this feeling.  The results show that women in the UK agree, and that’s why they see shoes as part and parcel of the important purchases they make on a regular basis.  With confidence comes possibilities which helps explain the amount of money women will spend on shoes over a lifetime.”

Alexandra Papa, spokesperson for the COMPEED® brand, says: “It is interesting to see from our research that such a high proportion of UK women are suffering needlessly for fashion, or abandoning large chunks of their shoe collection because of discomfort.  We have a variety of footcare products available in our range, which can help women stay one step ahead of blister pain and make their unwearable shoes, wearable.”

With over a fifth of us (21%) citing blisters as one of the primary causes of discomfort, the COMPEED® product range could have the solution. The COMPEED® Blister Plaster range offers instant pain and pressure relief.  Acting like a second skin, to support the skin’s natural moisture balance.  Investing in COMPEED® products can help us to revive our shoe collection so we can be unstoppable.

COMPEED® Blister Plasters (Medium) – RRP £4.99. Available in major retailers and pharmacies nationwide.