Not everyone who gets PN has numbness and most people dont lose their ability to stand or walk. Some people have numbness and balance issues, some use walkers or wheelchairs. Many people have pain or tingling with no numbness.

I think most people with PN with balance problems also have numbness . You cannot feel where your feet and /or legs are and need your eyes to balance. It also causes you to trip over things and twist your ankle more easily. Some people have balance problems from problems in their inner ears, which is not PN related.

Ideopathic just means no cause known, depending on what the cause really is and if it is treated early on with supplements and diet and medicine if the cause is found the progression can be slowed, halted or even reversed.

A significant number of people never have any symptoms in their feet at all depending on the type of PN.

That is what makes PN such a fun disease or condition, you never how how you will be affected. It is all very unpredicatable. The best thing you can do for yourself is to create the best conditions you possibly can as early as you can in its progression.