The straw that broke the camel's back...

Ever since 2002 or so I've been having some pain or the other in my back, earlier it used to affect my lower back but since past one year it has happily shifted to my upper back (I don't how that works but the lower back is pretty much alright these days but the pain in the upper back has increased multi-folds to a point where sometimes it's just way too much to handle). I think the pain can be attributed to wrong (and long) sitting postures, esp. now that I work primarily on a laptop which means your head is not in line with the screen and you have to bend down to view the screen properly...that's why I feel it's imperative that you should use an external monitor and/or keyboard with the laptop to make sure the alignment of the head & the screen is pretty much in the same straight line and hence avoiding the bending down business all together. Recently, a friend of mine underwent a keyhole surgery on his back for perhaps the same issue which has got me to think seriously about visiting a doctor too. Given how much I "love" visiting doctors and taking pills, it's quite obvious why I had been avoiding it for so long, I am hoping that just like the pain shifted from lower to upper portion, one fine day it would just shift further up to a point which doesn't affect my body any longer.