Here is what I did.
Back in November of 2007 I was hunting with a friend, at that time I was in major pain, I could walk maybe 50-100 yards and I would have to stop. By the end of the first day of buck season I was really hurting, I kind of thought I needed a new hip for a while. That night I took a hot soak in the tub, when I shifted in the bathtub I hear a clicking in my hip, I knew for sure at that point I needed a new hip.
When I returned from hunting I googled hip replacement and the word "alternatives" one of the sites I found was this one, from this site I found the surfacehippy group over at yahoo. I lurked for a number of weeks till I finally joined yahoo and asked questions. I had a number of people speak well of Dr. Gross and Dr. Su. I love the Carolinas so I contacted Dr. Gross's office, although I am sure Dr. Su would have done a great job.The rest is history for me.
Dr. Gross was booked pretty solid so I had to wait a while for my surgery.
In the end, don't rely on someone telling you that a surgeon is "the best in the US". I did visit a doctor here in Pittsburgh, at the time he had around 100, he told me that the 100 included him assisting and cadavers. I still to this day wonder how the cadavers are doing.
I say, let the others be the guinea pigs. I wish I had a $100 for every patient that wrote me or posted that they wish they would have traveled and used the most experienced surgeon, I would be retired. I've probably read posts or been messaged probably 100s of people who regreted not going for experience.
This surgery is NOT like a THR, the only thing it has in common is the acetabular cup. The placement of hardware is super important. When you hear of people with high ion reading most of them are from misplaced hardware. You pretty much only get one shot to get this surgery right, yes sometimes they can re-set a cup but for the most part you get one shot at this. Why risk having to get a revision?
Pick the most experienced surgeon.
Ask questions, lots of questions, like, how many failures does he have? What is the infection rate at the hospital he uses? How many times have you had to change midstream from an HR to a THR?
Be the best possible patient advocate for yourself, if you can afford to go out of network (I did) spend the money and travel.
Chuck
I'm a 43 old male and struggling with the decision to do resurfacing or wait. I am pretty much uncomfortable every day but I'm not disabled or anything. I do find myself being grumpy 
because of it sometimes or not participating in a sport activity like (tennis) because I don't want to deal with the pain consequences. I went and saw an orthopedic guy a few years ago who told me I'd eventually have to do something.It's definitely putting a damper on my fun but I keep wondering if I should hold off another year or two. I have a friend who is a hand surgeon and he recommended 4 memphis doctors at two different practices who he thought were great surgeons. I chose one of them and went to see him. He said he would resurface whenever I made the decision. He is younger than me and has only done 22 resurfacings. Would the low number bother you? He has installed both BHR and Conserv+ devices. He said he has done more BHR's but prefers the Conserv+ because it is an easier surgery. I guess he thinks it is technically easier to perform correctly. Any thoughts? There is another guy who I think is supposed to be THE local hip guy but I could not even get the appointment secretary on the phone. Got put on hold forever. This guy is young but I like him and my hand surgeon friend named him as one of four surgeons in Memphis he would let operate on his mother.
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