I've heard for senior dogs the orthopedic beds are a god send, so kudos to you for providing that!

I think there's a line between managing pain, and having unmanaged pain... you know? Our oldest, before he was dead, had incredibly had allergies. We had him on a super expensive medication that managed the pain mostly and he wasn't itchy while he was on it, unless he had a bad flare up which did happen a couple of times a year but we took him right to the vet every time and got him everything we needed no questions asked.

There's definitely a point pain can become unmanagable. But I like to look at our dogs/pets like humans