A prescription millions of Americans use daily sends 17 thousand children to the emergency room every year.

A recent study shows medical devices send more than 70 thousand kids to the ER every year.

One fourth of those cases are related to contact lenses.

They get used to it and think oh it's a contact lens everybody wears it...it's not going to cause any problems...well it certainly can. Just ask anybody who has had a problem from it before and they'll tell you it's pretty bad,” said Dr. Tyler Hall, an Ophthalmologist at Eye Center South in Dothan.

So bad you may need a cornea transplant.

"It involves removing the cornea and replacing it with a donor cornea...so someone that's passed away and donated their cornea you take theirs and sew it on and typically it has a pretty long recovery...a year for your best vision," said Hall.

"Dr. Hall says if you don't want to end up in his operation chair, only wear contact prescribed to you buy your optometrist," said reporter Danielle Eldredge.

"Contact lenses are approved by the FDA for children and adults. So with proper care, you don't usually have these results... but with lots of people using contact lenses now a days, eventually you will run into those who do have trouble,” said Hall.

Dr. Hall offers another warning:

Over-the-counter color-enhancing contacts found at beauty supply stores, are a major source of contact lens misuse.

They are usually not approved by the FDA.