The injury rate in female athletes has increased over the past number of years. This is due to many reasons. There are currently more events available for women to participate in athletic endeavors. Women are currently involved in more contact sports such as soccer, hockey, and lacrosse which provides greater opportunity for injuries. 

Women are also predisposed to knee injuries. This is due to the difference in the basic anatomy of a woman's knee. Women tend to be more knock-kneed than bow legged. As a result of being knock-kneed, there is more stress applied to the kneecap. Because the shinbone is displaced to the outside of the knock-kneed knee, the kneecap is also pulled to the outside. Many female athletes complain of pain in the knee, pain with going up and down stairs. 

A lot of female athletes have more flexibility than there male counterparts. Because of this flexibility, they have further problems involving the knee. Although this flexibility is essential for athletic competition, it provides a further source of problems for the knee. 

There are a number of steps that the female athlete can take to prevent these recurrent knee problems. First, she can make sure that she stretches prior to athletic endeavors. This would include proper hamstring and quad stretching to relax the muscles. Secondly, a set of orthotics can be used in the shoe, which could change the angle that her kneecap engages in the thighbone. These orthotics can be purchased as an over-the-counter device. Make sure that the orthotics have a build up along the inside of the heel which would straighten out the angle of the knee. 

There are also a number of exercises that the female athlete can do to strengthen the muscles in the thigh. The best exercise to perform is the single leg squat exercise. This can be performed by elevating one leg and simply bending down on the involved knee and holding this position for 5 seconds.