This thread has been a real eye-opener (or should I say ear-opener) - I don't use aids, but know an excellent musician who recently experienced hearing loss, and I've wondered what he was coping with.

At our district fiddle jams there is a woman who plays piano when her husband fiddles. Since the pianos are usually placed so that her back is to him as he plays through the mic, she has a separate little mic and transmitter that she clips to a music stand sitting near the mics. Apparently this is received directly by her hearing aid. She also sets this up in the middle of a "jam circle" so as to hear everything evenly.

I guess the one question I have is why are hearing aids so expensive?
The prices quoted above are more than a top notch stereo system. Is it because of the "captive" market, or that fewer are sold and they need to recoup R&D costs?

What percentage of the population has hearing problems? I know about 10% are left-handed, is there a corresponding figure for hearing loss?