 [ Symptoms ] i have a sore throat but no fever and i do not have strep what is wrong what can i do to heal my throat  i have already taken a strep test and i do not have strep i am in extreme pain when i eat and whenever i swallow [ Disease ] the most common cause of sore throat is a virus and most will last about a week unless of course you are developing a particularly nasty viral infection called mononucleosis mono if your sore throat does not resolve in a week your doctor should consider ordering a mono test ebv panel hopefully you had a culture done takes 2 3 days since rapid strep tests are not 100 accurate as far as what to do about your extreme pain i am at a loss since i really have no way of seeing your throat or review your medical history gargling with warm saline 14 tsp of table salt with 8 oz of warm water can help ibuprofen can help again it is not typical to have extreme pain with a simple viral sore throat so you may need to be re examined