By Sage McHugh on September 18, 2009 in
The over-dramatized commercial for Pampered Toes claims they're the miracle solution for tired, aching feet. Pampered Toes are made of a flexible gel that's said to a deliver a cool, soothing sensation to tired toes. The individual toe compartments are intended to give cramped feet a stretch.
But do Pampered Toes really relieve foot pain? Your intrepid ConsumerSearch editorial team decided to try them ourselves. User reviews seemed to indicate that those with larger feet liked them better than those with smaller feet, but in the end, we weren't so sure.
The manufacturer recommends leaving Pampered Toes on for 10 minutes, but that's providing you can get them on your feet. I was unable to get my toes into the individual compartments -- the spacers were too wide to fit between my toes. To my surprise, I found the gel-like material to be hard and incredibly uncomfortable. Since I'm a women's 8, an average shoe size, I imagine many women will encounter the same problem.
Another female editor with larger feet (shoe size 9.5/10) was able to get her toes into the compartments after some difficulty. Her fourth toe felt strained for the entire 10 minutes, and she couldn't wait to take them off. Not only did they not make her feet feel any better, she still felt some discomfort 20 minutes after removing them. In her opinion, the flaw lies in the design: "I think the main problem with this product is that it's a one-size-fits-all product, which never actually works out in real life." Regardless of the price, she says she would never buy Pampered Toes.
One of our male editors (shoe size 10.5) gave Pampered Toes a try too. He also struggled to get his toes in and reported a strained feeling in his fourth toe. After 15 minutes, his feet felt slightly relieved but not at all pampered. He speculates that "any 'relief' one experiences is due to the fact that Pampered Toes simply gives your feet a bit of 'breathing room' by slightly elevating the sole and putting some room between the toes (which isn't the most well-ventilated part of the body)." Though he admits his toes felt "a little more limber" after using Pampered Toes, he still wouldn't drop $10 on them.
Our results were far from the spa-like experience that was promised. Pampered Toes did deliver a sensation, but it was one of discomfort rather than relaxation.
See our review of Pampered Toes for more information.
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