Hi, i am 16, male, and do not smoke or drink. Through the last few days i have noticed the increase in difficulty and slight pain, that is really more of a discomfort, when swallowing , and have found that the outside of my throat on either side of my lower jaw have become painful to touch. I have recently found a new girlfriend and have seen that these symptoms do look like Mono, I am crossing my fingers it isn t, although i don t notice anything on my tonsils, the more I research the more it does seem like mono. It has only been about two days so i haven t told my parents although i did notify them of my soar throat, only very recently have i noticed the exterior discomfort of my throat. Please any helpful suggestions of possible reasons for this would be greatly appreciated and any tips on what to do would also be wonderful. I know my parents are more than willing to pay for the doctor if necessary, but currently we do not have any real insurance for that so home remedies would also be appreciated as my father is already under a lot of stress and i would rather not put anything else on his plate. Thank you for whatever help you can give me.