Abstract: A self-contained hearing aid has a housing which contains a microphone, a miniature speaker, an amplifier which amplifies signals from the microphone and supplies them to the speaker, and a capacitor which serves as the sole source of power for the amplifier during normal operation of the hearing aid. An arrangement for recharging the capacitor may include a pair of charging terminals within the hearing aid, and a recharging unit that is separate from the hearing aid and has a case with two probes which are coupled to a battery in the case and which can each engage a respective charging terminal. An alternative charging arrangement includes within the hearing aid a coil and a rectifier circuit coupling the coil to the capacitor, and includes a recharging unit which is separate from the hearing aid and has a further coil driven by an AC signal.