Would breast removal or breast reduction be easier to perform on me? (Photos)

Recommend a reduction over removal.  The cup size measure has inherent variability. Tissue density will always play a big role in the number of grams removed.  Going too small can sacrifice the shape of the breasts.  The nipple has to have a blood supply to survive from the underlying tissue.Recovery generally is one to two weeks. Your incisions must be healed before doing any strenuous activity.  I recommend that my patients wait six weeks before performing strenuous exercise and limit lifting to less than 10 pounds during that period of time.
Kenneth Hughes, MD, ABPS Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Los Angeles, CA

Thank you for your question.
The best thing for you to do is to schedule a consultation/evaluation with a board certified plastic surgeon to discuss your options. Best wishes!

Thank you for the question. You may be surprised to know that your goals/requests are not that unusual.   I see several patients every year who wish to achieve as small of a breast appearance outcome, for a variety of personal reasons.
 Generally speaking, it is possible to reduce the breasts size very significantly.   The concern with the amount of tissue removed is related to blood flow to the remaining tissue; if too much tissue is removed in one operation the blood flow to the remaining tissue (including nipple/areola) may be compromised. Part of the tissue that is left in place is called the “pedicle"; this segment of tissue is responsible for delivering the blood supply to the nipple/areola tissue. If the pedicle is made too small (in the effort to reduce the breasts as much as possible) then patient will likely have problems with tissue survival.   Occasionally, a staged procedure is helpful; in others, nipple/areola grafting is helpful.
 In my opinion, successful outcomes with  etc. surgery depend on:
1.  Careful selection of plastic surgeon (and from the surgeon's  standpoint, careful selection of patient).  I would suggest starting with the American Society of Plastic Surgery and/or the Aesthetic Society of Plastic Surgery to obtain a list of well experienced board-certified plastic surgeons. Then, I would suggest you visit a few surgeons whose practices concentrate on aesthetic surgery. ***Ask to see lots of examples of their work and preferably speak/see patients who have had similar procedures done.
2.  Careful communication of goals ( which I will discuss further below).
3.  Skillful execution of procedure ( preoperative, intraopererative, and postoperative patient management).
In my practice, I would ask that you NOT communicate your goals, or evaluate the outcome of the procedure performed, based on cup sizes.  There is simply too much variability when it comes to bra sizes between bra manufacturers and even store employees doing the bra fitting measurements.
 In my practice, I ask patients to communicate their goals with the help of  computer imaging and/or goal photographs.  Obviously, the outcome associated with the breast surgery will not necessarily match that of goal photographs perfectly, but they do serve as a better communication tool that subjective terms such as "natural", "proportionate", "flat"… Evaluating goal photographs also allows for a plastic surgeon to determine the consistency of the patient's goals and allows for a discussion of realistic expectations as well.  
***Needless to say, when it comes to achieving patient satisfaction with the outcome of surgery,  it is very important that a patient has consistent goals (fully decided on what she would like to achieve) and a good understanding of realistic expectations (what outcomes can and cannot be achieved). 
 Best wishes with your decision making and for an outcome that you will be very pleased with.