There are more than a million people who say they need vision correction but don't use any.

NBC

What's the best option?

We looked at two women, both have 20-20 vision but they achieved it in different ways.

Claire Anselmo traded in her glasses 6 years ago and became one of more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses.

"They were easy to use, and not as high maintenance as I originally thought they were," she said.

Jacquelyn Walent wore contacts until she developed a fungus and went back to glasses but they were a burden. So last year she was one of the 1.4 million Americans who underwent corrective eye surgery.

"I saw perfectly like the next day I came in and umm I actually had better than perfect vision," said Walent.

But what about safety?

A recent study compared the safety of contact lenses with vision correction surgery.

Ophthalmologist Dr. Kenneth Rosenthal says "With this study we can now tell patients that this is, uhh, a very safe procedure and in fact may be even better than what they're doing already, than wearing contact lenses. On average the likelihood of a serious site threatening complication from contact lenses was five times the likelihood with Lasik".

But Dr. Andrea Thau says the findings aren't that clear.

"What they were doing was comparing apples and oranges. They were comparing infection rates; with Lasik the complications have nothing to do with infections," said Thau. "The complications have to do with quality of your vision -- with that glare, with the halos, with poor night vision, with dry eyes, which can be debilitating the rest of your life."

Dr. Rosenthal says those problems are a thing of the past due to advances in technology and points out the complications from contacts.

"Minor infections like cornea abrasions or scratches of the cornea, broken contact lens, contacts falling out at an inopportune moment like when your driving a car. Those are complications of contact lenses and those happen fairly often," said Rosenthal.

There is also a risk of infection that doctors agree, can be avoided by practicing proper contact hygiene.

But Dr. Thau worries about the long term consequences.

"It doesn't stop your eyes from changing. It doesn't obviate your need for correction throughout your life and in fact my patients who had surgery five and six years ago are all back in glasses and contact lenses."

As for the cost, many insurance companies cover some of the cost of contacts.

Walent likens the cost of surgery to what she'd spend on years of contacts.