I mentioned a favorite pair of shoes in an earlier post , focusing on the harassment I endured from my family for having “overpaid” for them. As I pointed out in the article, the shoes have lasted seven years, and will likely last another seven, making them a triumph of frugality at just $10 per year over their lifetime. However, there’s another important aspect I didn’t mention: They’re comfortable.

Men and women, in my experience, tend to have very different approaches to shoes. Most of the women I know have dozens, sometimes hundreds of pairs of shoes, while most men have less than a dozen. (I’ll admit it: I love shoes, and have about two dozen pair, but I’m rarely the norm.) When you only have one or two pairs of dress shoes, especially if you wear them a lot, it’s important to buy quality. (Not that I don’t think ladies should buy quality as well.) My current situation provides a stunning example of this.

I have two pairs of dress shoes I regularly wear: I pair of Cole Haan black cap-toe oxfords and a pair of cordovan Johnston & Murphy wing-tips. I admit to having paid more than usual for both pairs, and I did so because they’re quality shoes that will last for decades. However, they’re also very comfortable shoes, a point I hadn’t really considered until this weekend.

Being that I run my own tech consulting business, I spend a lot of time meeting with clients. A sizeable amount of that time is spent crawling around on floors and under desks installing and servicing equipment, so I generally wear blue jeans and trainers along with a company shirt. About once a week I meet with a new client for the first time, and generally wear a suit on those occasions. However, this past week was filled with client meetings that involved wearing suits every day. As it just so happened to coincide with my Cole Haans being sent out for repairs, I replaced my trusty cap-toes with the inexpensive patent leather oxfords I wear with my tux, shoes that make their way out of the closet about twice a year, maximum.

I now find myself out of commission for the foreseeable future, struck down with a bout of sciatica. The cause, of course, is the cheap shoes I spent the week in, which have left me unable to sit upright for more than five or ten minutes at a time. I’d never noticed any problems with the shoes, probably because I’ve never worn them for more than a couple of hours at a time. When I can finally bend over and pick them up, I’m going to have some rather nasty things to say to them.

I’ve learned an important lesson about taking care of yourself: It’s important to be careful with your money, but it’s more important to be careful with your health. If you’re going to be spending more than a few hours in your shoes, make sure you’re buying ones that have proper support and are built to endure the punishment of heavy wear. If not, you might just end up like me, counting cracks in the ceiling and praying for it to be over.