I have been playing guitar since I was in highschool. I'm going to be 31 in a couple of weeks. Recently I went to the doctors because I have noticed that I experience what I can only describe as "constant distortion sensation" in my ears which appears when I get around noisy situations, such as going to clubs or being around a noisy crowd of people. I have also experienced an intermittent high pitched squeal in my ears from time to time as well, which also seems to happen more frequently after being exposed to a large noisy situation. To make a long story short, I was recently diagnosed with beginning stages of tinitis. I can only imagine that this problem originates back to the days when I would go to really loud concerts or clubs. The problem is one that I can control and I can prevent further damage, but nonetheless, it was pretty sobering to hear that I have damaged my hearing to a certain extent. To all of you musicians out there: Protect your hearing!!! Wear ear plugs in unreasonably noisy concert situations.