I’ve had both shoulders surgically repaired which requires a very painful 3-4 month rehab to get to about 80% functional, and another 6-9 months for 95%. I also have a bad back and neck from football days.
Crushed ice in a quart freezer zip lock bag is the best pain reliever. Placed on top of a washcloth and wrapped with ace wrap - it’s better than the pain pills. Supposed to only leave it on for 20 minutes, but screw that. I just add another layer of washcloth and leave it all night. The crushed ice lasts 6-8 hours vs. those gel cold packs which only last about 20 min.
Ice is great for pain. We horse people use ice on our horses and ourselves. There are numerous ice therapy items for horses, including circulating ice cold water boots for the legs. We also use cold clay poultices on legs after performances to cool off the legs. We share a lot of these things too because most older horse people are pretty beat up.