in any combination that meets the operator 39 s requirements the spring 39 s 450 variation in pitch can be seen as a different in the distance between the spring 39 s hoops such as the different distances w 1 and w 2 depicted in fig6 the circumferential hoops formed by the spring 450 as it circumferentially surrounds the mandrel 402 can tend to limit the initial radial expansion of the sealing element 400 while allowing the sealing element 400 to be longitudinally compressed the differences in distances between the hoops tend to allow the sealing element 400 to radially expand at certain location to an extent greater than where the spring 39 s 450 hoops are closer together in certain instances it may be desirable to utilize an accordion like structure that does not vary in pitch but tends to limit the initial radial expansion of the elastomeric sealing element 400 to a uniform amount fig7 depicts a side view of a compressible sealing element 500 mounted on a mandrel 502 with a first push ring 504 and a second push ring 506 which can be components of a downhole tool such as a packer or a plug the sealing element 510 has at least two accordion like structures 550 a c in this case a first spring 550 a a second spring 550 b and a third spring 550 c the springs 550 a c are embedded in the elastomeric member 510 for example the springs 550 a c can be attached to a radially inward elastomeric layer 520 and to a radially outward elastomeric layer 522 in fig7.