Some pain is acceptable, but there is a limit. After 50, playing with pain may be the norm rather than the exception. Sore muscles, stiff joints and other parts of the body that don't work as well as they used to are a fact of golfing life. If we wait for a day when we feel absolutely pain free, we may never play again.
Routine pain comes from playing a round or two of golf.
It hits players of all ages. There are no long-term consequences. Aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen or acetaminophen, plus ice and a good warmup can get most of us back to as near-normal as we're going to get. Dangerous pain, on the other hand, is the kind that can cause irreversible damage. Our bodies are telling us to back off or pay a long-term price.