I encourage the OP to go read the first few posts in the Fitting your Bike forum.

Also have a look at this post:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post12953035

I've found that stretching out more relieves pressure on my hands rather than increasing it. Especially if you are thinking about raising your bars, you should also move them forward, maybe about the same amount as you raise them, but that depends on your exact geometry. Basically you sit on the saddle with your accustomed elbow bend and rotate your arms in the shoulder socket. Your hands will describe an arc. Your new bar location will be along this arc to have the same back angle. Many people find they are more comfortable moving their saddle back a bit and lowering and moving the bars forward, sometimes quite a bit.