Mi padre tenía dolor en el cuello y en el codo después de la caída.

Yes. Tener dolor en... is a normal and natural structure.

In this sentence, tenía dolor en el cuello y en el codo means he had pain in those areas.

Other common ways to express something similar are:

• Le dolía el cuello y el codo. = His neck and elbow hurt.
• Estaba dolorido. = He was sore / aching.

The version with tener dolor sounds a bit more neutral or descriptive, and it is very common in medical or everyday contexts.

Because tenía is the imperfect, which is often used to describe an ongoing state or condition in the past.

Here, the sentence is describing your father’s condition after the fall: he was in pain.

• tenía dolor = he was having pain / he had pain
• tuvo dolor = he had pain, seen more as a completed event or bounded period

So tenía fits well when you are setting the scene or describing how someone felt.

This is very common in Spanish with body parts.

When it is already clear whose body parts you mean, Spanish usually prefers the definite article:

• el cuello
• el codo

rather than the possessive:

• su cuello
• su codo

So Spanish often says the equivalent of the neck and the elbow, where English would normally say his neck and his elbow.

You could say su cuello or su codo, but that usually adds emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Because dolor here refers to pain as a general condition, not to separate countable items.

So:

• tenía dolor en el cuello y en el codo = he had pain in the neck and elbow

This is completely natural.

You may also see dolores, but that usually sounds more like aches, pains, or multiple complaints in a broader sense. In this sentence, singular dolor is the most natural choice.

The repeated en makes the sentence clearer and more natural.

• en el cuello y en el codo clearly marks two separate places

Spanish often repeats prepositions in this kind of structure, especially when listing body parts or locations.

You may sometimes hear less repetition in other contexts, but here repeating en sounds very natural and tidy.

Yes, absolutely.

A very natural alternative is:

• A mi padre le dolían el cuello y el codo después de la caída.

That literally works more like My father’s neck and elbow were hurting him after the fall.

The difference is mainly one of structure:

• tenía dolor en... focuses on the existence of pain
• le dolían... uses the verb doler and focuses on what hurt

Both are correct and common.

Después de is a fixed expression meaning after.

It is used like this:

• después de + noun
• después de + infinitive

Examples:

• después de la caída = after the fall
• después de comer = after eating

So the de is not optional here; it is part of the expression.

Because caída is a feminine noun.

• de + el = del only with masculine singular el
• with feminine la, there is no contraction

So:

• de el libro → del libro
• de la caída stays de la caída

That is why the sentence uses de la.

Caída is the noun fall, from the verb caer = to fall.

The accent mark shows the stress and also helps show that the vowels are pronounced in separate syllables:

• ca-í-da

Without the accent, it might be read differently. So the written accent is important here.

Yes, mainly in tone and register.

• mi padre = my father
• mi papá = my dad

Mi padre sounds a bit more neutral or formal. Mi papá sounds more familiar and affectionate.

In Spain, both are used, but mi padre fits very naturally in a plain descriptive sentence like this one.

Because the next sound is e, not i.

Spanish changes y to e only before words that begin with an i sound:

• padre e hijo
• España e Italia

But here the next word is en, which begins with an e sound, so it stays:

• y en el codo

So y is correct.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, as long as the sentence remains clear.

For example, you could also say:

• Después de la caída, mi padre tenía dolor en el cuello y en el codo.

This version puts the time/context first: after the fall.

The original version is also perfectly natural. It simply starts with Mi padre as the topic.