backpain_no_mo

Hey everyone, I am new to this site and this board so bare with me.... okay here is my story.. Im 24 Im very athletic, and involved in alot of sports.. but once thing that has haunted me since i was abt 12 was bad posture.. I quess it really started with having low self esteem, and not confident and since I was always slumped in my posture or the way i sit in a chair.. well I never really paid much attention to my posture til i hit my mid teens, maybe 15-16 and i noticed it was getting worse.. so bad that I looked hunched over even when standing upright. I would not wear any tight clothing such as sweaters or muscle shirts due to the fact that if was very noticible... well i still really didnt do much about it, and my mother was a single parent and could not afford to take me to the back specialist, and all my family doctor would say is "to streach it out and workout" and gave me a little paper with 3 or 4 streaches and exercised to do.. well I never had much pain or distress so i didnt do most of those things...well now that im 24, I have good news... my back is NO where as bad as it use to be, I can sit up straght and it looks like I have a straight back.. now when I have my shirt off you can tell a lil bit that my uppper back protrudes, and my butt sticks out a lil bit.. so I know I still have a long was to go, and when I bend over to pick something up or extend my hands you can tell I have bad posture..and it is very unattractive.. now when I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror it dont look bad at all (quess because all the muscle are tight and aligned I think..lol ) but after like a roung of golf, it looks very bad since im straching my back out alot when I play......so here is my question.... Is it took late to have a HEALTHY back, with Great posture, and not need any kind of surgery.. I mean I am willing to do what it takes, and I know the first part is going to see a good doc, but that will have to wait til my insurance kicks in.. and I have some money saved up...really what I wanna know is anyone on here ever had really bad posture and now they have good posture.. I bought a back brace that helps me not slump my shoulders but thats just the begenning, plus ive been losing weight by running and working out and also workign out my back...but still want to know there is hope of having a normal looking back with great posture without surgery...again, any help and info is appreciated..!!!! God Bless and thanks in advance...