As others have said, felt recoil in these little light guns varies WIDELY from person to person.
For me, +P 158 grain in my 642 isn't too bad. It thwacks my metacarpal a little, but it doesn't sting too bad. Standard pressure loads are firm, and light wadcutters are fairly pleasant. I also don't mind shooting .44 Mag from a 3" 629 wearing wood boot grips, if that tells you anything. I'm fine with the stock boot grips on my 642. I always thought putting ginormous Hogues on these guns didn't make the most sense for me, as doing so would eliminate it for pocket carry. And for belt carry I prefer K and L Frames anyway. I've gotten the point I can run and shoot the little gun pretty well. Wonderfully smooth trigger once it got broken in. As for the LCR, to be honest I've not been impressed with their triggers. Yes, they are lighter. But the return is mushy and most have had grittier pulls than my 642.
My sister has a S&W bodyguard .38. With +P she says the recoil is "tolerable", and being that she is a natural shot she can keep most of her shots on a playing card at 10 yards.
On the other hand, my wife cannot STAND the recoil of my 642, even my 148 wadcutter loads (3.2 gr W231). At the indoor range, on the first shot she shook her head in aggravation. She flinched so bad on the second shot she put a hole in the ceiling above the target hanger
. She hasn't shot the gun since.
My mom had an LCR .38 for a while. Again, even with light loads it was too painful. She now as a S&W M&P9 Shield that she absolutely loves to carry and shoot.