Medically reviewed by the Celva medical team · June 2026
For patients facing joint-replacement surgery, spinal fusion, or told "there's nothing more to do," MSC therapy is a precision-delivered, image-guided alternative. Knee, hip, shoulder, hand, foot, plus neck, back & disc. It works with the body's own repair machinery, not around it.
Not every joint complaint is a candidate for cell therapy. We group by anatomical region and screen each indication against the evidence, your imaging, and your goals. Spine, hand, and foot work falls under the same image-guided injection standard as the larger joints. We treat each joint as a whole: the cartilage and the supporting ligaments, tendons, and muscles around it that drive much of the inflammation and pain, not the joint space alone.
Image-guided facet or epidural delivery. Disc therapy is case-by-case, with strict imaging screening.
Our most-screened region. Image-guided intra-articular injection delivers MSCs directly to the joint space.
Ultrasound-guided delivery to glenohumeral joint, rotator cuff tendon, or AC joint as indicated.
Fluoroscopic guidance places cells precisely at the femoral head–acetabular interface.
Ultrasound-guided injection for thumb-base (CMC) arthritis and other small-joint OA. Same image-guided precision as larger joints, smaller anatomic targets.
Ultrasound-guided injection for plantar fasciitis, calcific deposits, and chronic foot inflammation. Targeted local delivery for soft-tissue and peri-bony sites.
A significant share of inquiries are declined by the physician team, not because we can't help, but because MSC therapy isn't the right tool for every problem. Here is the honest screen.
Chronically damaged tissue develops what we call a disrupted repair environment: persistent inflammation that prevents healing, fibrotic changes that replace functional tissue with scar, a local immune response that has become self-defeating, and compromised blood supply that starves the area of what it needs to recover. Image-guided injection places cells directly into that environment. The goal is to change the conditions so the body's own repair capacity can function again. That is the local half. A same-session systemic IV adds the other half: cells released into the bloodstream are drawn toward inflammation, so they migrate back toward the joint we just treated, reinforcing the local repair while calming inflammation throughout the body and supporting the broader benefits of a systemic infusion.
Not managed systemically; reduced at the specific site where chronic inflammation is driving breakdown.
Scar tissue formation is reduced at the target site, helping preserve functional tissue where it is most at risk.
The immune response at the site, which in chronic conditions has become self-defeating, is brought back into a repair-supportive state.
Cells support new blood vessel formation at the target tissue, contributing to perfusion that supports structural recovery.
No two joint cases get the same recipe. Bone-marrow MSCs by image-guided injection, umbilical-cord MSCs by injection or IV, and chondrocytes for cartilage support are all in the medical team's toolkit. Which cells, in what doses, by which routes is the clinical decision Celva's medical team makes after reviewing your imaging. Most joint cases use more than one cell type, delivered the same treatment day. Why we use multiple cell types →
The general Celva methodology has five stages. For joint indications, here are the numbers that differ: dosing, route, session count, and what pre- and post-care look like.
MRI and weight-bearing X-ray read by the physician team's attending. CBC, CMP, inflammatory markers, and coagulation panel within 14 days of procedure.
Target joint is prepped under sterile technique. Cells are drawn into a 5cc syringe and injected under live fluoroscopic or ultrasound guidance. Position confirmed before release.
A second allogeneic MSC dose, delivered IV in the infusion suite, monitored. This is where the two routes compound: circulating cells are drawn toward inflammation and migrate toward the joint we just injected, reinforcing the local repair while calming inflammation body-wide.
Monitored rest. Discharge instructions. Concierge transport back to San Diego once the attending physician has authorized discharge. You are walking the same day.
Coordinator check-ins along the way, with formal scoring at baseline and again at 4, 8, and 12 months for most joints (6 and 12 for the slower-responding spine and foot). Pain-function scales (KOOS / HOOS / SPADI / FAOS / ODI) plus VAS, with repeat imaging on return for re-treatment.
De-identified, consent-verified cases from our clinical follow-up records. Chosen to represent typical trajectories, not only the best outcomes. Individual results vary.
Patient was scheduled for a total knee arthroplasty after two years of conservative care and a corticosteroid course. Bilateral MRI showed Grade III chondral loss, medial compartment. Treated with image-guided intra-articular MSC plus systemic IV. Twelve-month re-image showed no further progression and KOOS function up from 42 to 76.
Recreational tennis player with a supraspinatus partial tear and chronic lateral epicondylitis after PT, a corticosteroid course, and one PRP attempt. Ultrasound-guided MSC injection to the rotator-cuff tendons and the common extensor origin, plus systemic IV. Returned to baseline serve and groundstrokes at week 10 with no recurrence through one-year follow-up.
There is no standard protocol for joint and spine cases. Celva's physician team at Hospital Angeles, Tijuana reviews your imaging, history, and goals, then designs the approach for your situation: which joint, single-region or bilateral, and whether an IV adjunct is indicated. The cells are matched to your case, not pulled off a shelf.
Start an intake and a Celva patient coordinator gathers your case for that review. Nothing is scheduled until the team has weighed in and you have decided to move forward.
Find out if you're a candidate →For patients who want the detailed story on a specific joint, the alternatives they've already tried, or the recovery timeline. One page per topic.
Send us your imaging, tell us about your joint. The Celva patient coordinator gathers your case and passes it to Celva's medical team, who tell you plainly whether MSC therapy is the right next step. If it isn't, they'll say so.