About 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, making this an important vision-correcting tool. “When used properly, contact lenses are generally considered safe enough for the eyes,” he says. The problem is that many contacts lens wearers do at least one of these risky behaviors, Dr. Dastjerdi says. The safest soft lenses to wear are daily disposable lenses, or single use lenses, Dr. Zimmerman says. Overall, eye doctors stress that contact lens are safe to use—you just need to use them correctly.