Sometimes the longer you put off a problem the worse it gets and the recovery time is much longer. Only you can be the judge of how much pain you can tolerate. I had a knee replacement when I could not stand it but long before surrounding muscles were affected so my recovery time was relativly short and did real well. My dad had shoulder surgery on both arms and full recoevery was six months.. That is about what I can do to help> If you have not done so get a second opinion from a good MD that specialized in shoulders. Then ask them how many they have done and what is the outcome. Every thing should be explained to you before you have any procedure.