Yes, I am one of the ignorant ones.... Been playing for over 25 years and always thought I was "too cool" for earplugs or hearing protection of any kind. Now I guess I'm too cool to hear anything but this incessant ringing in my ears. Sometimes it's not too bad and I can ignore it for the most part, but other times I'm nearly driven mad by it. It's just a constant non-stop tone about the same frequency of a telephone ring, which is probably where they get the term "ringing in my ears" from... It never stops and every so often and to my great discomfort it will abruptly change frequency. I say discomfort because it's not painful, but very unnerving and breaks my concentration on whatever I happen to be doing at the time...
Please ALWAYS use hearing protection!!!!!