This is a question I answered regarding a procedure done by another physician.
Lumpiness, swelling, and numbness after a facelift / mini lift / s lift / weekend face lift can be a normal thing. Lumpiness is usually due to a number of factors of which include; fluid collection, inflammation, sutures, and cysts.
Most of the time, the lumpiness will go away with time. At times, your surgeon may consider steroid injections to help the lumpiness. Although, time is a better alternative. Steroids injections can cause their own problems like skin thinning that is hard to predict along with vessel formations and other side effects. Massage is another thing that can help with the lumps.
Heat is something that I would be really cautious of employing. Numbness is a natural process. When you elevate the skin for the facelift, it will interrupt the nerves reaching the skin and this is just part of the process. It takes nerves one day to grow 1mm in the best of conditions.
Many times it will take up to a year for the nerves to fully come back and sometimes the numbness does not fully recover. Your doctor should help you with this and hold your hand so to speak through the whole process.
Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington