Tihinen started his career with KePs in the lower divisions before moving to Veikkausliiga club HJK for the 1997 season. He won both the Finnish championship and Finnish Cup once with HJK, and also earned UEFA Champions League experience with the club in the 1998-99 season. Tihinen then joined Norwegian club Viking in 2000. He spent two and a half seasons with Viking, while also having a brief loan spell at West Ham United in the English Premiership. Whilst at West Ham he played in their 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2000-01 FA Cup. In 2002 Tihinen joined Belgian giants Anderlecht. He played in Belgium for four years, winning two Belgian championships. After Tihinen's contract with Anderlecht expired in the summer of 2006, he was snapped up by Zürich on a three-year deal. He was Captain of the 2006-07 Swiss Championship and the 2008-09 Swiss Championship winning team.

On 30 September 2009, Tihinen scored the winning goal for FC Zurich after 10 minutes against A.C. Milan in the Group C game of the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League.