Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a perceptive rehabilitative approach, based on a new device, with regard to pain and disability in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain. Design: Single blind, randomized, controlled trial. Setting: An outpatient academic hospital. Patients: Seventy-five patients with chronic low back pain. Interventions: Patients were randomized into three groups. Twenty-five subjects received 10 sessions in one month, based on specific perceptive exercises that were performed on a suitably developed device. Twenty-five patients entered a Back School programme. Twenty-five patients comprised a control group that received the same medical and pharmacological assistance as the other groups. Main outcome measures: Pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale and McGill Pain Questionnaire. Disability was evaluated using the Oswestry Disability Index and Waddell Disability Index. All measurements were recorded before treatment, at the end of the study, and at 12 and 24 weeks. Results: General pain relief was recorded in all the groups, which was elicited more quickly in the perceptive treatment group; significant differences in pain scores were observed at the end of treatment ( P < 0.001 for visual analogue scale and P = 0.001 for Questionnaire) versus the other groups. Disability scores in the perceptive group did not differ significantly from those in the other group, whereas these scores significantly differed between Back School and control groups at the follow-ups ( P < 0.01 for both scales). Conclusion: Perceptive rehabilitation has immediate positive effects on pain. Back School reduces disabilities at follow-up.