A lot of athletes are fed pain killers before, during, and after performing. Yes, pain management is needed. However, I have seen too many close friends who started managing pain to perform, then turned it into a habit. That habit can then form into an addiction. Then, that train can be very hard to stop.
Most of the time, your pain is related to something you can fix or work on without medication. Don't take it from me, take it from Dr. Senatus of the Bone & Joint institute.