The balance and auditory nerves are side by side, even twisted together. THE, and I do mean, THE fix is to learn to use your third balance system, proprioception. Everyone loses some balance function in their inner ear as they age, but some disease affect both hearing and balance, like Meniere's. When the little "gyroscope" in your inner ear doesn't work correctly, you automatically start to use vision for balance, but that is a really bad thing. Every time you move your head, move from one place to another, drive around a corner, you lose your focal point. So, it's time to learn to pay attention to what your feet tell you. In simple terms, proprioception is what makes you know just how far to lean into the wind when you're standing on a rocky point.

The way to teach yourself is to start by standing, in your sock feet, feet fairly close together, with your eyes closed. At first, you'll begin to wobble pretty quickly, so you need to start in a hallway or with someone next to you. Once you can stand without wavering, walk a short distance with your eyes closed, again, in a hallway to start with. Do this for 5 or 10 minutes every day, and you'll see a real improvement in your balance within a couple of weeks. As you gain skills, wear shoes, which makes it harder for you to "feel" your feet giving your information. Everywhere you walk, think about what your feet tell you. You may find that you often stare at the surface in front of you while you're walking. Instead, check the area ahead of you to make certain there's nothing to trip over, and walk a short distance without looking at the surface, then check again for obstacles, and walk another short distance. You will be surprised at how much there is to see! You need to work on this every single day, until it becomes natural. Walking in low light situations, including outside, will help reinforce learning.

It's really important to work on this every day--evenings are best, because you can turn out all the lights before going to bed and walk through your house, where you're familiar with where things are. This is called VRT (Vestibular Rehab Therapy). I had done it for several years when it became necessary to tear out much of both of our bathrooms due to dry rot. Since there were old counters, toilets, tile, etc. and boxes of new stuff in the hallway and living room, I quit walking in the dark for two weeks...and lost my ability to know where I was in space. Good news was that after only a few intense sessions I was stable again. You'll find that not only do you have far more confidence in moving about (including driving), but you will have much better ability to know where things are in relation to your hands. No more slicing your fingers instead of the veggies! Because I still do instream river surveys in spite of being 77, I also try to dress or undress standing, without touching the counter or dresser beside me. You do want to have something stable nearby in case you begin to lose your balance. This is a special test for women when they wear pantyhose! You'll find that it's harder to have good balance when you first wake up, but things improve pretty quickly.

I can't begin to say how much learning to use proprioception improved my life! I've been doing it for nearly 40 years. In addition, anything you do that challenges your vestibular system, like working off a ladder, will improve your balance for a couple of days. For me, it means that cleaning gutters (which no one in their right mind ever wants to do) has the benefit of making it possible for me to wade and fish without needing to use a wading staff...for a couple of days.