Elora Shehabuddin '91, a social studies concentrator from Leverett House, had the left nostril of her "roundish" nose pierced by a gun this past summer in a Bangladesh beauty parlor. "I think it's a very personal decision. Not everyone can carry it off," she said. "I just do it because it's the thing to do in Bangladesh."

Back in the United States, nose-piercers often operate out of less distinguished venues. Just ask Taylor, who last spring break had her nose pierced by a man with a piercing gun who was working out of the back of a van in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, nosering wearers acknowledge that their nasal adornments often end up piercing their parents' hearts. For Nestor, at least, Mom and Dad were less than thrilled at their child's newest jewelry item.

"My mom just didn't want it to get infected. My dad didn't say anything. My little brother who's three says take it out," Nestor said.

But sometimes parents do know best. Infection is not just the product of paranoia. it is a very real risk, as nosering bearers will attest.

Nestor, Taylor and Holdt all report infections from their piercings. They caution that fellow wearers use clean jewelry made of genuine precious metals and warn them not to replace the piercing stud too early.

But nasal infections are more than just a pain. According to Dr. Daniel H. Vogel, an Arlington ear nose and throat practitioner, infections can pose a serious medical risk.

"When people pierce their earlobes, it's basically skin and fat, and there's very little risk," Vogel said. "But when people start piercing the upper ear and the nose, that's cartilege, and there's a risk of a cartilege infection."

Vogel warned that amateur piercers using non-sterile instruments run the risk of hepatitis and other infectious diseases. Even worse, he said, an "infection in the mid-face can spread back to the brain."

Gammons and the others deny any brain damage resulting from their piercings. But they say their piercing did cause something else--pain.

Students interviewed say they used everything from guns to pins to do-it-yourself kits to pierce their noses. Each implement brings with it its own level of pain.

"There's a sharp pinch, then pain for the first 30 seconds or so," Gammons says. "It was sore for a little bit. You don't realize how much you move your nose in normal conversation until it's sore."

"It was painful," Nestor says.

Taylor, whose favorite nosering is "a little tiny turqoise one" that she wears in her right nostril, concurs.

"Yeah, it kind of hurt." she says. "I got sort of nauseous and dizzy."