Assessment of Acupuncture to Improve Function, Exercise Capacity, and Pain

Inclusion Criteria: * Veterans eligible for this study are men or women between 25 and 65 years old with non-malignant low back pain greater than 6 months duration and pain scores greater than 4 (on a Numeric Pain Scale of 0 = No Pain and 10 = Worst Imaginable Pain) on most days out of the preceding month. * Eligible subjects will also need to be able to tolerate 3 minutes walking at a rate of 0.5 miles per hour on a horizontal surface. Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to provide informed consent * Diagnosis of dementia * Severe depression (Beck Depression Inventory score \> 30), suicidality, or untreated mental illness * Severe anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory score \> 30) * Evidence of current substance abuse or alcoholism on the TICS * Ongoing litigation related to the low back pain complaint * Pregnancy or intent to become pregnant during time of study * Ambulation requiring an assistive device * Neurological, orthopedic, or other conditions impairing ambulation that would affect exercise safety * Progressive neurological changes, altered sensation, or a history of cauda equina syndrome * Pain below the knee that limits ambulation * Lower extremity amputation proximal to the toes * Low back pain problem requiring surgical intervention or impending surgery * A history of lumbar vertebral fracture; and * A history of prior lumbar surgery. Additional exclusion criteria include medical conditions that would affect an exercise program, such as rheumatologic, infectious, cardiac, peripheral vascular and pulmonary conditions, or ongoing cancer treatment.