Women's knees are different
Women's knees are more vulnerable than those of men. This is partly due to anatomy, and partly to physiology. Women's hips are wider in general, which can affect knee alignment. Any muscular imbalance, therefore, can put women at a vulnerable state. Tight hamstrings (the back of our thighs), weak hip muscles (the side of our thighs) and weak quadriceps muscles (in the front of our thighs) can lead to overuse injuries with sports.

For instance, if we want to go skiing and we have these imbalances, we can get tendinitis (inflammation of the tissue that attaches muscle to bone) in the front of the knees. This is very common. I see patients nearly every day with this complaint. Yet it is so easy to prevent.

Two types of injury: Chronic and acute
There are two major types of injuries that can be prevented by proper training: chronic overuse injuries, which can come on slowly over time; and acute injuries, which occur with traumatic accidents.

You cannot always prevent acute injuries when you are out there having fun and being active, but you can reduce your risk with good conditioning and judgment in your sport. Chronic overuse injuries, however, may be reduced significantly with preventative exercises and by taking care of your body.

If you have a chronic overuse injury, chances are good that it can be treated with activity modification during the healing phase, as well as exercises to treat the injury and prevent recurrence in the future. If you suffer an acute injury and you have significant swelling, difficulty walking, locking or catching in the knee or instability, see your health provider as soon as possible. Your injury must be evaluated by a professional.

To prevent both overuse injuries and some traumatic vulnerabilities, you can get in balance by performing several simple exercises, as demonstrated in my video, on a daily basis. Once you are in balance, continue to perform these exercises several times a week to maintain your balance and help prevent injury in the future:

Hamstring flexibility
Quadriceps strengthening
Hip strengthening

So get out there and enjoy a pain-free lifestyle. Remember that a little effort in advance of your sport can lead to more enjoyment and better performance in the things you love to do.

Gloria Beim, M.D., is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and women's fitness, with clinics in Gunnison, Mount Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado. She is the author of "The Female Athlete's Body Book." Learn more at http://www.femaleathletesbodybook.com and http://www.alpineorthopaedics.com.