Those pebble-like bumps with tiny black dots—especially on toes, soles, or fingers—are most often warts caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The black specks are clotted capillaries, a hallmark sign. On feet they’re called plantar warts; they can feel like a stone in your shoe and often hurt when you squeeze the sides.
How they spread
- Virus enters through micro-cuts in skin.
- Common in locker rooms, pools, showers, and sweaty shoes.
- Spreads by direct contact or from picking/filing the wart and touching other skin.
What to do (and not do)
- Do keep the area clean and dry; cover with a bandage or tape; wear flip-flops in communal wet areas.
- Don’t pick, cut, or shave over them—this spreads infection and can scar.
- Avoid sharing towels, socks, nail tools.
Home treatment options
- Salicylic acid (17–40%) pads/liquid: soak skin 5–10 min, gently pare dead skin, apply daily for several weeks.
- Cryotherapy kits can help small, recent warts, though office freezing is stronger.
- Duct tape occlusion is low-risk; evidence is mixed but sometimes helpful.
When to see a clinician
- Painful, spreading, bleeding, or uncertain diagnosis.
- If you have diabetes, poor circulation, are immunocompromised, or the wart is on the face/genitals.
- If no improvement after 6–8 weeks of proper home care.
Early care plus good foot hygiene usually clears them, and protects the people around you from catching HPV, too.
