Every stem cell therapy question we get asked.

MSCs are adult stem cells found in bone marrow, umbilical cord tissue, and fat. Their job is repair coordination. When delivered into inflamed or degenerating tissue, they initiate a signaling cascade that operates at six levels at once: anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, immunomodulatory, pro-angiogenic, neurotrophic, and anti-apoptotic.

The cells are the trigger. The signaling cascade they initiate continues well beyond the cells themselves, addressing the upstream biology behind chronic conditions, not just the symptoms.

Screened umbilical-cord tissue donated after full-term healthy births, rigorously screened for infectious disease and genetic markers. Celva's medical team then grows the cells in the cGMP lab at Hospital Angeles, using a proprietary culture medium and expansion process, and banks them by a proprietary method. Each dose is thawed and re-checked the morning of treatment. Most clinics have no lab on site; in Tijuana or Cancún, they buy frozen vials from a third-party supplier. The finished cells, the medium they are grown in, and the process behind both are developed in-house and used nowhere else, so no other clinic can hand you this vial.

Umbilical cord is our most common source, but it isn't the only one. We match the cell type to the case: umbilical-cord MSCs for systemic, neurologic, and autoimmune work, bone-marrow-derived allogeneic MSCs for orthopedic and structural cases, with chondrocytes added in almost every joint case.

No embryonic cells are used. Cells are allogeneic (from a screened donor; no harvest procedure for you).

It depends on your protocol:

• Joint / orthopedic: Direct injection into the joint space under ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance, 15 to 30 minutes under local anesthetic, with twilight sedation available if you want it. Almost every joint and spine patient also receives a systemic IV the same day. The two work synergistically: local repair signaling at the target site plus systemic immune-modulation across the whole patient.
• IV / systemic: Slow intravenous infusion over about 45 minutes, monitored.

Dosing is individualized; there isn't a fixed number we quote in advance. The physician team sets your dose during case review, based on your diagnosis, body size, and goals, not at intake. It's weight-adjusted and tuned to severity.

No. PRP uses growth factors from your own blood, useful, but passive. Prolotherapy uses sugar solution to provoke local irritation. MSCs are live cells that actively coordinate repair over weeks to months. We offer PRP too, made from your own blood, when the physician team adds it to a plan.

No. The cells are not genetically modified. They are donor cells, expanded under cGMP conditions and delivered in their native state, unaltered. Nothing about your own DNA changes.

No MSC therapy is FDA-approved for the conditions we treat. The one approval so far (December 2024) is for a transplant complication in children. The rest are still working through U.S. clinical trials, a process that takes years even for treatments with strong evidence. Over 1,000 MSC trials are currently registered globally, but the FDA's cell-therapy pathway is slow by design.

Hospital Angeles is regulated by COFEPRIS, Mexico's federal regulatory body, where licensed physicians administer cell-based therapies in a fully supervised clinical setting. Patients access the treatment now, under physician oversight, rather than waiting another decade for U.S. approval.

COFEPRIS (Comisión Federal para la Protección contra Riesgos Sanitarios) is Mexico's federal health-regulatory authority, equivalent in function to the FDA. Hospital Angeles is a licensed Mexican hospital regulated by COFEPRIS, where the physician team performs the regenerative medicine treatments Celva coordinates.

Most patients have few or no side effects. A small number notice something mild and short-lived: a slight fever the evening after (call if it lasts more than 24 hours), some soreness at a joint injection site, or brief fatigue or a headache. These pass on their own.

Serious adverse events are rare. The main risks, infection at the injection site and allergic reaction, are why we require hospital-grade monitoring and only treat in a full hospital setting. A blood clot is a smaller risk, mostly after an IV: a swollen, painful calf is a call the same day, and sudden shortness of breath is emergency care first.

This is the fear that stops many people from researching further, and it's worth taking seriously. MSCs are adult, lineage-restricted cells. They do not form teratomas the way embryonic stem cells can. Long-term follow-up across published MSC trials has not shown increased tumor rates versus the general population.

That said, we screen every donor for genetic markers and run characterization panels on each batch. We also decline treatment in patients with active, untreated cancer.

No. Hospital Angeles Tijuana is a 116-bed general hospital with surgical, cardiac, oncology, and ICU departments, part of Angeles Health, one of the largest private hospital networks in Mexico. Celva operates inside it. That means when something unexpected happens, you are already inside a hospital, not in a strip-mall clinic.

Every batch passes six release tests:

• Sterility (14-day culture, no bacterial or fungal growth; a batch is released only after this result)
• Identity (flow cytometry; MSC surface markers CD73+, CD90+, CD105+)
• Viability (at least 95% live cells, re-checked after thaw on the morning of treatment)
• Potency
• Endotoxin (below USP <85> limits)
• Mycoplasma (PCR and culture)

Every tissue donor goes through three kinds of screening before any tissue is accepted:

• Comprehensive medical, genetic, and infectious disease screening
• Infectious disease testing on the FDA-required lab panel
• General health and organ function tests

Records are maintained for traceability.

Honest answer: not everyone is. Our coordinator collects your medical history, current condition, imaging, and goals, and passes it to Celva's medical team for independent review. A significant share of inquiries are declined. If you're not a fit, we'll say so plainly, and, when possible, point you to what might actually help.

We decline or defer candidates whose biology, comorbidities, or stage of disease make a meaningful response unlikely or unsafe. Absolute contraindications include:

• Active untreated cancer
• Pregnancy or active breastfeeding
• Active systemic infection
• Severe immunosuppression
• Uncontrolled autoimmune flare
• Recent major surgery without adequate healing
• Unstable cardiovascular disease
• Severe active coagulopathy
• Acute hospitalization or medically unstable condition

We also decline patients with a structural problem where surgery is clearly the right answer (e.g., an unstable ligament or a complete tendon rupture), and patients whose expectations we can't meet honestly. Advanced bone-on-bone arthritis is not an automatic decline: we sometimes treat it, case by case, for pain and function, and we're honest about the lower ceiling. A blood thinner is not a reason to decline: IV, joint, and spine treatment are all possible once the medical team has reviewed it, so tell us about it early.

Most of our patients are adults, typically 40 to 75. Children can be treated with medical-team approval, case by case. We've treated patients in their 80s who were otherwise healthy; we've declined 55-year-olds who had complicating conditions. Age alone is not a disqualifier; biological health is what the physician team evaluates.

For many patients it can reduce pain and help delay a knee replacement. How much depends on how far the knee has worn. Grade 2 to 3 osteoarthritis tends to respond better. Grade 4 (bone-on-bone) is harder; we'll sometimes treat it for pain and function, but we're honest about the ceiling. If your surgeon has recommended replacement and you're considering a delay, send the imaging you have and we'll tell you straight.

Often the opposite. MSCs have strong immunomodulatory effects, and autoimmune conditions (MS, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus) are among the indications with the most active clinical research. That said, these cases require a thorough evaluation and often a neurologist or rheumatologist partnering with the physician team. Book a call. Celva’s medical team will assess carefully.

Helpful, but not a requirement. If you have recent MRI, X-ray, CT, or ultrasound, we'll review it. If you don't, we can perform the imaging you need at Hospital Angeles before treatment, at no charge, to establish a baseline. No MRI or bloodwork is required to start. The physician team tells you what your case actually needs during review.

There is no single price. Our pricing is custom and individual to each patient, because no two patients get the same plan. Yours depends on the cells and dose the physician team sets for your case, and how many areas are treated. Once the physician team has reviewed your case, you get your price in writing, itemized, before you decide anything.

Celva operates inside Hospital Angeles, a full hospital, not a standalone clinic. A Celva driver takes you from San Diego in our black SUV, you stay in the car both directions, and your patient coordinator is on the phone throughout. The return trip uses the medical lane at the border (typical wait 15 to 30 minutes). We don't send patients alone. Zona Urbana Río, where the hospital sits, is the medical-district area of Tijuana, well-trafficked during business hours.

The treatment is one day, in and out. Treatment may be morning or afternoon. Expect about 2 hours at Hospital Angeles for an IV-only day and about 4 hours for a joint or spine day. Most patients are home the same day, once the attending physician signs your discharge.

Most patients fly into San Diego, where we take over. We walk you through the timing for your case during intake, never on arrival.

We strongly recommend a valid U.S. passport or passport card; it makes every crossing simpler, and a passport card is enough for the land crossing in our black SUV (including the northbound medical lane). If you don't have either, tell us early. In special circumstances, with team approval, we can sometimes help arrange your crossing.

The medical lane is a faster northbound lane at San Ysidro, for medical patients. We request your pass through a Mexican government app, so the crossing is handled for you start to finish: no letter of medical necessity, nothing to do on your end. The typical wait is 15 to 30 minutes, versus the general public lanes, which typically run 3 to 4 hours. You stay in the black SUV, and your documents are reviewed at the U.S. border booth as usual. Southbound into Mexico has no medical lane and doesn't need one; it's typically non-stop most days.

Most patients are home the same day, and flying in the same day is fine. If you want a night nearby, most patients prefer a San Diego hotel; we work with several downtown properties and can book one for you.

Please do. A companion is welcome, never required. Most patients travel with a spouse, adult child, or close friend. Transport and hospital access easily accommodates one or two companions. Larger groups can be arranged with notice.

Easy. Fly into San Diego International (SAN); we pick you up. Patients regularly come from Texas, Florida, New York, and internationally. For international patients we can help with travel-concierge referrals; we don't arrange flights directly.

For a joint, the first change usually comes between weeks 4 and 12, and improvement can keep building through the first year. After an IV, some patients report more energy in the first 2 weeks, and the response peaks around 12 to 16 weeks. It's a gradual, individual curve, not a single switch.

It varies by indication, individual response, and tissue environment, and we do not promise a duration. The therapeutic effect (reduced inflammation, modulated immune activity, activated repair processes) persists long after the cells have done their work, and improvement can keep building through the first year. Whether a second treatment makes sense is decided at your follow-up reviews. The physician team will tell you plainly what is realistic for your case during review.

It depends on the indication and how we define success. For well-selected orthopedic patients, a meaningful clinical response means less pain and more function, the things you came in wanting back. Response varies by indication and by patient, and we won't quote a success rate we can't stand behind.

A joint or spine treatment is one session. Whether a second treatment makes sense is decided at your follow-up reviews. For a systemic IV, the 6-month review decides what happens next. We decide with you based on your response, we don't upsell sessions.

Be skeptical of anyone who promises this. On follow-up MRI we sometimes see imaging stabilization (no further loss) in selected patients; specific improvements in cartilage thickness or signal are not guaranteed and are not what we promise. We do not claim to rebuild a bone-on-bone joint. What honestly changes for most people is symptoms and function: less pain, more of what you'd stopped doing.

Yes. Follow-up calls at 1 week, then at 1, 3 and 6 months, then once a year, by phone or video. Your patient coordinator or aftercare specialist calls, and a physician joins when needed.

Rarely. Some patients report transient flare-ups in the first 1 to 2 weeks that resolve. Serious adverse outcomes are rare. The more common disappointment is no meaningful change, which is why candidacy review matters.

Most patients return to desk work the next day. Physical jobs (construction, nursing, anything with heavy lifting) need a longer plan after a joint injection: outside physical therapy, avoid loading the treated joint for 4 to 6 weeks, so arrange light duty or time off. IV-only protocols have essentially no downtime for work; workouts wait 7 to 10 days.

Mostly yes. Ideally, take no over-the-counter NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.) for 2 weeks before treatment and at least 2 weeks after: they blunt the inflammatory signaling the cells rely on. Acetaminophen is fine. If a cardiologist or another doctor prescribed you a daily aspirin, a blood thinner, or a steroid such as prednisone, do not stop it on your own. The medical team reviews every prescription and tells you what to do, case by case.

It depends on what you had. After an IV, walk and move normally the same day; workouts wait 7 to 10 days. After a knee, hip, ankle or foot injection, stay off the joint with very limited activity for the first 7 to 10 days. After a shoulder or hand injection, walking and light daily use are fine; protect the joint for 7 to 10 days. After a spine injection, expect about a week of soreness, then normal activity. Physical therapy is recommended for every joint and spine patient, starting after the first 7 to 10 days. Loading and strengthening inside physical therapy are fine; outside it, avoid loading the joint for 4 to 6 weeks. Running and impact sport wait until weeks 8 to 12. For joint injections we send a progressive loading protocol with your aftercare packet.

Yes. We recommend no alcohol for 7 to 10 days before and 7 to 10 days after, and longer is better. Chronic heavy use will dampen your response, honestly, so will smoking. If you're investing in this, give the cells a clean environment to work in.

Yes. Most patients are cleared to fly the same day. Do not plan a long drive the same day. Discharge and travel timing are set by the attending physician, not a fixed schedule, and the physician team will tell you what applies to your case.

Your patient coordinator or your aftercare specialist. They bring in a physician when needed. A slight fever the evening after treatment is common. Call them if a fever lasts more than 24 hours, or if a treated joint or site is red or hot after the first 24 hours. For severe chest pain or shortness of breath, call local emergency services first, then tell your coordinator.