Tinnitus: A Challenging Complaint for the Physician

Tinnitus is a common but very heterogeneous symptom. It is defined as the perception of a sound by an individual in the absence of an external source or stimuli from the external environment. There are various causes for tinnitus, which complicates its understanding and study. There is also a great difference between individuals who present this symptom: tinnitus can be unilateral or bilateral, chronic or acute, associated with a specific medical condition or of unknown origin. Furthermore, individuals present different levels of psychological distress and intensity of tinnitus signal [1-3].