Depends.

Summer of '99.....I was playing a LOT of competitive softball (250+ games a year). We won a National Championship, that year.....and my cuff had suffered a 50% tear due to a slap lesion.

First ortho was gonna slice me open. I opted for a second opinion from an ortho I trusted from my golf days.....who happens to be the lead ortho for the (then) Charlotte Hornets; Davidson Wildcats/Charlotte Knights. He said he'd do everything in his power to perform the surgery arthroscopically.

He was successful in his scoping. 4 TINY incisions.....and the repair was made. Full debried of the labrum.......removal of a type III bone spur.....and all that was left was physical therapy.

I wen tin for PT on the monday after my Friday surgery.....and went every weekday for 3 weeks.......3 times a week for the subsequent 3 weeks.

At the end of the first 3 weeks.....I could swing a bat. At the end of6 weeks.....I could play with MINOR discomfort.

All may not be lost. get as many people as you can to give you an opinion. The difference in recovery (from the first assessment to the second, for me) was almost ONE YEAR.

Get more opinions. That's my best advice to you.

Good luck.....and thanks for your service.