Regarding chronic pain in joints and connective tissue near the skin surface (aching shoulder, knees, hands, etc.)... I know I've mentioned this before but try Ted's Pain Cream. It's an effective topical analgesic for chronic pain from old injuries that have technically healed but still hurt.
Combine that with a good massager, appropriate for the painful area, and it's pretty effective. I use a percussion massager for the soft tissue around my shoulder, but it's uncomfortable directly over bone. Most of the affordable percussion massagers have dual heads, each the size of golf balls, which fit on either side of the spine, or around the shoulder blade without touching bone. Kind of a shiatsu effect -- pressure directly on the painful areas. A more conventional massager with softer attachments would be better around knees, wrists, etc., or for soft tissue that's still too sensitive and painful for a percussion massager.
CBD is useful for some moderate pain and associated anxiety, but it's still expensive for what it does. I get it from a company that offers significant discounts to veterans and disabled folks. Otherwise I wouldn't buy it for the relatively subtle effect. It's nowhere near as effective as even the mildest prescription opiates -- tramadol and hydrocodone. Eventually CBD will become much more affordable and easier to find so it'll be moot. I use it because it doesn't make me drowsy like my prescription pain meds.
I've already mentioned kratom before too. It's remarkably effective and affordable. A bit controversial due to misguided government agency statements and poorly researched pop media paranoia hype. But it's legal in most of the US. It's greatly exaggerated for recreational use, kinda like how teenagers will chug a six pack of Red Bull for a buzz, then end up sick. Happened to one of my cousin's daughters when the kid was in high school -- she ended up with seizures because she was literally living on nothing but Red Bull and candy. As soon as she straightened out her diet the problem vanished.
Use kratom like normal people would normally drink coffee or tea and ibuprofen or aspirin -- moderately, and stopping when it provides the desired effect. And kratom is pretty comparable to drinking a cup or two of coffee and more effective than ibuprofen but not as effective as prescription opiates. Don't take more kratom hoping it will be stronger than coffee or provide more pain relief than NSAIDs. It doesn't work that way, same as drinking a gallon of coffee all at once doesn't make us hyper-alert, and swallowing a fistful of acetaminophen or ibuprofen will only risk liver damage and stomach irritation, not more pain relief. Kratom is very mild stuff taken in appropriately small doses.
I'm betting -- well, hoping -- researchers will isolate the effective components and provide those in better controlled recommended dosage levels to eliminate the guesswork. Meanwhile, just consider it like coffee or tea and a few NSAIDs for moderate pain. It tastes bitter so mask the flavor with hot chocolate, whey protein mixes, or buy the compressed tablets from Etha Natural Botanicals. Etha lab tests and pasteurizes kratom powders (mostly from Indonesia), then compresses it into tables for easier swallowing without the bitter flavor. Etha costs a little more but it's a good company. But I usually buy the powders from Mitragaia, also a reliable company with very fast shipping -- usually 2-3 days from order time during business hours. Considering it's a one or two person operation they're very efficient.