Roselyn,

Even if you don't have Meniere's (80% of those so diagnosed do not actually have Meniere's), you can benefit from learning to use proprioception. When your primary inner ear balance system doesn't work or work well, you automatically use vision, your second balance system. That's very bad, because every time you move your head or your position in space, your focal point changes. Proprioception, simply put, is the information you receive from your feet, ankles, knees, hips, etc. If you stand on a windy point, you'll automatically lean into the wind just enough to avoid being blown away: that's proprioception.

I'm very lucky because one of the first/best vestibular clinics is in Portland, OR, only two hours from where I live. There are now vestibular or balance clinics in several places around the country. If there's one at all near you, get an appt. there and do the exercises they assign you. You will feel less dizzy and have decent balance within a couple of months of starting VRT (vestibular rehab) exercises EVERY DAY. Even if you aren't assigned/don't do specific eye/hand exercises, you'll find that your coordination improves there as well.

I've done daily VRT for nearly 40 years, went from being dizzy and disoriented most of the time with horrid back pain whenever I had to stand for a long time (I did trade shows back then) to being able to move normally in about a month after starting exercises. There were almost no VRT clinics or people who understood the process then, so I learned via e-mail. When I went bilateral three years ago, I went to the clinic for a refresher course as soon as I got on a good hormone replacement program (low hormone levels are what trigger Meniere's for me). I also learned that, with age, I have less feeling in my lower legs, so I was assigned new exercises to help me pay attention to what my stupid feet have to say. <g> Since I have to walk a quarter mile each way on our gravel road to pick up the mail, I walk to the mailbox with my eyes closed, peeking occasionally when I feel the texture of the gravel change to see which direction I've meandered off toward! While doing that, I concentrate on what my feet are feeling: I can tell when I'm no longer in the well-traveled single lane as the gravel is loose instead of being embedded. As I've done for nearly 40 years, I walk around in my house late at night with all the lights off (no ambient or street light here in the spruce woods).

I'll soon have my 80th birthday, but I'm still collecting fisheries data in a wild stream on our north coast, a place where we have installed ropes and use wading/hiking staffs to get around on the extremely steep slopes. I still hike in three miles (no cell reception or other people) to install temperature monitors, one of which requires crossing the lower mainstem of a sizeable river with big boulders and lots of current and then scrambling up above a waterfall. I fish for fun, fly fishing, which requires lots of wading, even in the surf at times. Once I got on a good hormone program, I've had no dizziness and feel confident moving around. This is my 30th year of data collection on the same river--all of those years due to daily VRT exercises.

If there's no VRT facility near you, ask, and I'll write up some starter exercises: walking with your eyes closed is done only AFTER you've done some basic work standing in place.