Protect Your Lower Back

I regularly see patients with persistent low back pain and disc irritation. A recurring theme in the spinal literature is the critical role of the multifidus muscles in protecting the lumbar discs.

The multifidus are small, deep stabilising muscles that sit directly along the spine. Unlike the larger erector spinae, they don’t create big movements — they provide segmental stability, controlling subtle motion between individual vertebrae.

When these muscles weaken or switch off (often after pain, injury, or prolonged sitting):

• Micro-instability develops at a spinal segment

• Shear forces increase across the disc

• The disc experiences repetitive abnormal loading

• Annular stress accumulates

• Disc bulge or degeneration risk increases

If the multifidus isn’t stabilising the segment, the disc absorbs forces it wasn’t designed to handle.

This is why some patients have “recurrent disc issues” without major trauma — the underlying stabiliser system never fully re-engaged. The simple act of emptying the dishwasher everyday – that uncontrolled forward bend, slowly over time places too much load on the lumbar discs.

2 Simple Exercise to Re-Activate Multifidus