I have had both shoulder worked on several times but no full reconstruction due to rotator cuff being completely gone. It is coming I'm afraid. Hoping to put it off another few years. Anyways I have delayed both surgeries for several years by doing a series of physical therapy exercises to build up strength and range of motion in both shoulders. When I had the last shoulder worked on to reattach a ligament, clean up a minor cartilage issue and remove three bone spurs the first day of physical therapy I had more range of motion and strength than the P-therapist targets for completion of treatment after several weeks. My Physical therapy was nothing and I was done in just a few visits. They of course wanted more sessions for the insurance money but admitted I did not need them.
Do your homework in advance and the physical therapy is nothing, let those muscles grow weak and let that joint loose your range of motion and it is merry hell trying to get it back. You don't need to lift big weights either, it is smaller weights, stretching, range of motion and repetitions to make the joint stronger. And yes it hurts like hell sometimes but man candy, ibuprofen, takes care of that and the improvement will amaze you. Not saying you can rebuild your own shoulder this way but a lot of the problems seem to be reduced and if you get to a livable situation you can delay surgery for a time.
You can see a physical therapist to get exercise program put together to make your shoulder better. Most insurance companies want you to try that before surgery anyways as one of their classic delaying tactics, so make it work for you.
