Thus older folks lose high-frequency hearing because those hair cells deteriorate first; thus you may lose hearing at certain frequencies and... why not, the cells can be damaged in a way that causes them to hear things that are not there, with the frequency spectrum of the tinnitus "tone" mapping onto the damage.
Comments? I don't see a single reference to "hair cell" in this comment stream so far.
As for broad spectrum hearing damage, and how young people think all parts of their body are immortal. I once in my early 20s spent a single afternoon playing ping pong in a basement in which a very loud amateur rock band was also practicing. They were to my right. It was so loud it physically hurt. A few years later, I happened to have a hearing test as part of the induction into my workplace, and... would you believe it... my right ear is about 3dB less sensitive than my left. The brain makes up for the imbalance, but threshold-of-hearing tests don't lie.
So I got to be stupid once. No tinnitus, no obvious disability. But ever since then the rule has applied: If it hurts, it's causing permanent damage, so avoid. Ear plugs, at least the wax type (Ohropax, from Germany) can be fairly discreetly worn if you must be cool and party near the big loudspeakers.