It happens to me a few times, and I still an over the average audiogram (made it last year for the Class 1 pilot medical visit) and it doesn't change so you see. The ear is an organ that cannot reconstruct itself if it is damaged, that's why we have to protect it. But that's an organ like the others, and as the other would hurt when they are implied in some recovery (like the hungover), the ear protects itself when it has been hurt, I couldn't explain the process because I'm not a pro but what you ear may be the effect of the overexposition to loudness as well as the ear recovering, that would be interesting to check it out.
Your ear can support some time to time an overexposure, so if you go to concerts, there is no need to be "too much" worried if the tone is not too loud, no need to be paranoïac and never listen to concerts without your ear protection, if you know well your ear. This is all a balance between strenght of exposure, frequency of exposure, and time of recovery. But, that said, always go to concerts with your protection on your pocket, and always manage your ear, giving it the right time of pause, etc. The sound in the ears is something normal, if you listen well, even after some music in your car that is not so loud, in the evening you should notice a really tiny ringing in the ear. It's all a matter of volume + time of exposure.
Also, one important thing like for the rest of the body, is that the ear doesn't protect itself the best when you're tired. So going to a metal concert tired, drunk, and with no protection, can be dangerous. As well, don't think metal concerts are the worst, I remember somebody on a guitar forum, that has got a permanent and strong ringing after... a blues concert. The problem was the loudness of the high frequencies of a telecaster guitar. It ruined his hearing, even if he often went to rock concerts.
As the best advice : if you think you're feeling the volume is too high and don't have protections on you, LEAVE THE CONCERT, PERIOD.
there are some good ear protections designed for musicians, that reduce the whole spectrum of frequency the same. It's cool, good quality, and the price is worth protection your favourite sense. I found a cool one for around 30 euros in france, you should find the same around 40 bucks.
I went a little more general but I think that was the best thread to talk about this, as this topic is very important to me !
