Unstable pinky finger

About 20 yrs ago, I dislocated my pinky finger at the middle joint (PIP joint I believe) of my dominant hand.  The middle section of my finger wound up on top of the section closest to my hand.  I reduced the dislocation on my own within minutes of it occurring. At the time, I was told surgery may be necessary in the future. They said something about pins and I said no thanks. Since then, the finger has been a bit unstable and tends to hyperextend very easily.  Not that I play that frequently but I can't even grip a football properly with it. Making a fist is painful at that knuckle. A few times a year, it either pops out a little bit or, if I bang it ever so slightly it is fairly significant pain and a feels like it is going to dislocate again.  About a week ago, it happened and was one of the most painful incidents yet so I made an appointment with a hand specialist.

Is this something that can be fixed without surgery?  
If I do need surgery, what would it involve?  What is the recovery time? Much of my work is on the computer so being unable to type would make my job difficult.
What are the long term consequences of doing nothing?