Hearing protective earplug having alternative modes of insertion

A hearing protective earplug comprising:

• a soft, resilient, polymeric foam body comprising a smoothly contoured viscoelastic main body element having a rounded nose end, and a maximum cross sectional dimension along its length of about 13.73 mm, said foam body comprising a base end opposite said nose end of said main body element;
• an elongate stem having two ends, one end thereof being embedded in and secured to the interior of the nose end portion of said main body element, said stem extending axially and rearwardly from said nose end portion and through said base end, the other end of said stem terminating at a point exterior said base end, said stem being sufficiently stiff as to allow manipulation of said main body element into an ear canal whether in a precompressed or uncompressed condition;
• said viscoelastic main body element of said earplug having a 90% recovery rate of between 2 and 120 seconds and is capable of being inserted into an ear canal in either a precompressed or uncompressed condition.