MOUNT PLEASANT, SC – October 06, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –
Malissa LaRoche, PA-C, owner and injector at True Beauty Aesthetics, has continued her education in MD Codes, the facial assessment and injection system developed by plastic surgeon Dr. Mauricio de Maio, with one-on-one training under two of Dr. de Maio’s direct mentees. LaRoche is now using the method for treatment planning with injectable patients at her Mount Pleasant practice.
Her education in the system began with foundational coursework and a lecture led by Dr. de Maio. It is taught to practitioners internationally through the Allergan Medical Institute.
MD Codes divides the face into regions and assigns each injection point a code made of letters and a number. The letters identify the area of the face, such as Ck for the cheek, Jw for the jawline, and C for the chin, and the number marks a specific point within that area. Each code carries guidance on injection technique and on the facial danger zones an injector needs to avoid, giving practitioners a standardized vocabulary for building and documenting a treatment plan.
“Patients usually come in pointing at one line that bothers them,” said LaRoche. “The codes give me a map of the entire face, so I can look at what is causing that line and plan around the structure underneath. My approach is to work with each person’s own features.”
Full facial balancing, the whole-face approach at the center of LaRoche’s practice, evaluates the upper, middle, and lower thirds of the face together before any treatment is planned. A concern in one area often traces back to structural change in another, such as midface deflation deepening the folds beside the mouth. The coded system gives LaRoche a consistent way to record that assessment and tie each step of a plan to an exact location on the face.
Consultations at True Beauty Aesthetics begin with a patient’s medical history and goals, followed by standardized photos from several angles and an assessment of the face in motion. The curriculum also includes a companion tool for recording favorable and unfavorable facial features, which LaRoche now uses to evaluate proportion and bone structure before recommending treatment.
When a full-face plan fits, LaRoche phases it, treating structural areas such as the temples, cheeks, and jawline first and moving to the lips and finer refinements afterward. She describes this as “building the house.” A plan can also stay limited to the single area a patient asked about when the assessment supports that.
“The jawline has been a game changer,” LaRoche said. “Looking at it through the codes, I’m thinking about how it relates to the chin and the cheek and to the bone structure a person already has. That keeps the plan in proportion with the rest of the face.”
LaRoche came to aesthetics through oculoplastic surgery and opened True Beauty Aesthetics in 2022. Injectables are now the sole focus of her clinical work. Her ongoing MD Codes training builds on her earlier facial anatomy study with anatomist Sebastian Cotofana and her completion of Master Expert Injector training.
“Working in facial plastic surgery gave me a huge advantage, because I learned the anatomy first,” LaRoche said. “This training gives me a structured way to apply that anatomy across the whole face and a clearer way to walk a patient through a plan before we start.”
True Beauty Aesthetics is a medical spa in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, led by Malissa LaRoche, PA-C, who has more than 20 years of experience in plastic surgery and aesthetics. The practice offers Botox and dermal filler injections, laser treatments, chemical peels, and additional skincare services for patients throughout the greater Charleston area. True Beauty Aesthetics is located at 1100 Queensborough Boulevard, Suite 101, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464. For more information, visit their website.
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For more information about True Beauty Aesthetics, contact the company here:
True Beauty Aesthetics
Cynthia Crosby
(843) 790-2034
cynthia@truebeautysc.com
1100 Queensborough Blvd STE 101, Mt Pleasant, SC 29464
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