In article ,
Bill Grey wrote:

A huge number of people have balance impairment, as vestibular
function is one of the first things to go as people get older,
and quite a few medical conditions can cause it to degrade
(often permanently).

How do you manage when hill walking, there must be times when exposure is
a problem?

I wear flexible boots and thick, woollen socks. The former (and my
use of my ankles and toes) keeps the blood flowing, and the latter
remain insulating even when fairly wet. And I don't walk in the
winter unless I can keep them dry! So I tend to start losing
balance only when I have incipient hypothermia, which is something
that needs urgent attention.

Glad to hear that you can work round the problem. Keep going for as long as
you can.

Thanks! Yes, I will. But, as I frequently say, I am lucky in having
lost hearing and balance after having learnt to talk and walk, and
while young enough to develop new neural pathways. I have never
really known anything very different, and few people realise unless
I tell them.

People who lose them in old age (i.e. past 15!) have more trouble,
but the really unfortunate ones are the ones who lose them as babies.
Nowadays, in places like the UK, that can be helped - but it's still
not easy.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.